The Tempest

I am an organizer. A producer. For the past 6 years I've worked for myself in the non-profit sector, and I am paid to organize and produce - events, fundraising programs, other programs, organizations, spaces, ideas into reality. People are always commenting on how amazing it is that I never lose a detail, that I can put together an event without getting stressed, that I can keep track of everything so well. Needless to say, my type A personality serves me well in my work.

I remember as a kid once I accidentally spilled my box filled with seed beads - compartments of the tiniest beads, all over the floor. Initially, I was annoyed, but then I collected them all into a large bowl and began reorganizing them into their compartments. And I began enjoying myself. A bit OCD? Probably, but the hours-long process sure was fun. I admit, at times I actually really enjoy my work.

So what does this have to do with my kid? Oh, you mean the 2.5 year old whirlwind that leaves total chaos in every corner of the house? The tempest that is ready to make another mess two seconds after I've just cleaned things up for the 16th time today? The toddler who almost always refuses to help pick things up? What it has to do with it is that I have had to learn to totally surrender to having a clean and organized house all the time. We have these great containers from Ikea that hold most of Dahlia's toys, but 90% of the time, her toys are outside of those containers. And some evenings, after Dave has gotten her in the bath and is doing her bedtime routine, and dinner is either made or eaten (it depends on the night, and whether we all ate together or Dave and I are finally going to sit down and eat around 9:00 PM), I spend 10-15 minutes and pick everything up. Or I'll take a relaxing break from work in the middle of the morning when Dahlia is with the sitter and pick things up and use the Dustbuster to vacuum the corners and pick up the dust and food crumbs and bits of Playdough that are everywhere all the time. OR, I'll just leave the toys where they are, so that the next day at least she'll know where to find them.

Maybe one day when we own our own house and all of Dahlia's things can just be in one room, I'll do what my mother-in-law does and just close the door of that room so that I don't have to see the tempest, and to keep it from spreading.