Martha Stewart is the queen of all things domestic, although to be fair, she has gardeners and maids, so she really doesn't have anything on the average woman.
As a Stay at Home Mom, I sometimes feel like a domestic goddess of sorts, but being mom to a little boy who is all boy, I really don't have much to show for my efforts.
Carson fits the masculine stereotype by being loud and full of energy and messy, so very, very messy.
Cupboards are meant to be emptied, toys should be scattered, water always needs to be splashed over the side of the tub, and music should be played loud. Burps and farts are fun and chocolate looks best smeared on the walls.
We don't exactly agree on methods of housekeeping, he and I.
But with all of that unleashed energy, he is proving to be very helpful and willing, and I am learning to relax my Stewart-like housekeep standards of perfection.
As Carson carries the stack of perfectly folded tee shirts into the closet, they somehow drop from his clumsy hands, so he quickly picks them up again, no longer neatly folded, and shoves them in to the drawers, proud of his efforts. And I smile, because it no longer matters that there are going to be wrinkled clothes and disheveled drawers. He is helping out and learning that work can be fun. I don't want my desire for perfection to squander that.
So if you come over for dinner and the table set haphazardly, it is because an eager little man was in charge of arranging the napkins and silverware at each place setting, and if you notice a smear of who-knows-what on your spoon, it most likely was cleaned by a 14 month old who still puts everything in his mouth. And during dinner, you might notice "housekeeping" mopping the floors with a child sized Swiffer.
I'm sure Martha Stewart would cringe if she saw the state of my home, with finger printed windows, and disheveled drawers, and cupboards filled with pots and pans and toy tractors too, but what Martha doesn't know is that we are still in training, this mini-housekeeping crew of mine.
Give us a few years, Martha, and our efforts now will have hopefully paid off. Because right now I am planning to work my way out of a job -- and let the mini crew take over.
I'm sure it works like that, right?