Picking up

I sometimes find myself missing my house pre-kids. My dining room without a plastic play kitchen located squarely at the head of the table. My living room without shelves overflowing with toys and miscellaneous junk horded by the girls. My bathroom without pony-tail holders (ponies) and barrettes (pretties) littering the floor. Not being one to suffer silently, I often find myself griping about our current living conditions. Fortunately, I have wise friends with good perspective to help bring me back to earth. Susan (already previously identified as the knower of many things) reminded me that this life-stage only lasts a few years and pointed out that some day I might even miss the scattered toddler debris. I pondered this as I collected all the bits and pieces left out at the end of the day and found she was, as usual, right.

Here is a list of what I found around the house:

• Laurie Berkner CD case (entitled Whaddaya Think of That?)
• purple pony tail holder with plastic butterfly adornment
• blue plastic toy mixing bowl and tea cup
• black winter coat with faux fur trimmed hood, size 5
• denim jacket with black velvet collar, size 2
• brown shoes with scuffed toes, size 10
• empty paint cup
• 18 glitter pens in a purple plastic box
• shamrock tiara made of construction paper
• Julia's food pyramid school project with magazine cut outs and marker designs
• wrapping paper and ribbon from the gift we took to a 4 year old's birthday party
• wooden letter D, painted purple
• pink rubber gecko
• blue paper umbrella from drink at Snappy Dragon restaurant
• 1 red ladybug boot, size 10
• 1 red feather boa
• pink colored pencil
• bag of ranunculus bulbs (purchased that day for Julia's flower garden)
• yellow tulle fairy wings
• 1 strawberry shortcake flip flop

This I know: when fairy wings and shamrock tiaras are replaced with car keys and cell phones, this list will bring back the memory of all the sweetness of these years.