Those without children, or without small children are probably getting tired of my stories about Ben. These things really happen… like almost every day here. He either has a future as a brilliant engineer or as a criminal of sorts… his mind is constantly going!The story began when my sweet husband returned home from baseball practice with 9 yr old Anthony at around 8:30 Thursday evening. My mind officially turns to mush at 8:31pm, and if kids are not in bed, I get grumpy. This poses a problem as Anthony gets into more competitive sports, and the older kids have the later practice and games since the league only has so many fields. I had the other 3 kids quietly in bed, and was ready to start my Thursday night ritual of internet and Grays Anatomy, and the season premiere of Private Practice. YES - I do have DVR, but I like the excuse to sit down at a set time on Thursdays and Sundays. I usually don't make it until 8:30, as I am tardy with almost everything I attempt these days. As I was in mid sitting stance, ready to begin my "me time" (ha-what is that?), John announced that we need to find a better place for the kids to do their homework. Maggie usually does her homework at the dining room table, and Anthony uses either the kitchen table or the sofa in the living room. We also have a large desk in the office, but I will admit, our office is often a cluttered mess, that often resembles Sanford & Sons. Both twins are good to get their work done, and keeping them separate during homework time is essential. We all agree on that fact. On Thursday, after baseball game, and after I turned into a pumpkin, Anthony proceeded to start his homework on the sofa, and he was hunched over the coffee table. I agree, this looks to be uncomfortable, and he would be more comfortable at a desk or table. After a day full of activity, I was brain dead by this time, so I didn't even notice to be honest.
My reply to John was that he did not have to sit at that table. The dining table was available, and there was the kitchen table (may have had a few things on it at the time), and the office. John came back something like "the office desk is usually too cluttered to do anything" – I will admit this is true. I have had a vision for creating a work area for the kids on one side of our office. One wall has John's grandfather's large antique desk, and a inexpensive computer armoire. The other wall was a cluttered mess. I had a large TV armoire that was taking up a lot of space, but was not needed as we never (and probably shouldn't) watch TV in the office. Most of the armoire was a storage for things I didn't have time to find a place for. Beside that was a huge pile of things we need to get rid of, but I need to decide what to do – donate, sell, trash? I had grand plans of a giant ebay listing, but I don't have time to meet the bottom level or our hierarchy of needs these days. But, it still annoyed me that this father of my children would actually call me on my mess. How dare he? It also bugged me that he was so right. I hate it when they are right!
… Then my head spun, and I Turned Into My Mom… I was on a Mission…
I couldn't sleep that night. I knew he was right. I knew we were not terribly organized with their school work, and I was operating on faith that someone would alert me if we missed something major. If something happened to me in my sleep, my mother would be horrified at the state of this household. All of these thoughts were running through my head as I drifted off to sleep. He really only said one thing – didn't make a big deal of it, but it really sent me off on a mission. I awoke at 3am and decided to tackle the mound of school papers that had accumulated in, I swear, less than a week. There had been a couple of times when kids were needing a paper that they left here or there, and I would dig through this mound that I had formed in the kitchen of papers that I pick up here and there. It was pathetic – I am sorry Mom. Friday would be my one and only day last week with no kids and no commitments. I would get this ship in order. I would and I did! I would show him! I had actually had this vision of creating this area for the kids for some time and had most of the supplies in the garage, but never had the time or the priority of my time to follow through.
I worked tirelessly during the entire school day Friday to clean out clutter, try to purge the office of unnecessary clutter. I then called our yard man who has helped me move heavy items before, and asked if he could come help me move this giant armoire. I called at 11, and he said he could come by at 3. But… by 1pm, I had the thing empty, and I wanted it gone. It had these soft "sliders" on the bottom, so I thought it pushed kind of easy on the wood floors. I will get it to the door, I thought, then I could move forward with the office, and Howard would arrive later to get it to the garage. But… when I got to the front door, I thought "I am WOMAN, Hear me Roar", I can get this out on my own. Once I got from the wood floors to the front porch, to the sidewalk, to the driveway… to the garage, I was using everything I had to move the darned thing. I remember my mom doing the same thing - pushing large items with her feet while sitting… anything to get the thing moved. I was on a mission now, and my mom comes out in me when I get in mission mode.
When John arrived home, the armoire was gone, the ebay boxes were scaled down to one tub, and the desk area was clean. He was impressed. He went to bed early, and I couldn't stop there. I then proceeded to the garage where I started to build a long desk table for the kids in our office. I had purchased a desktop (6 ft x 2 ft) and some sturdy table legs a while ago with this in mind. I assembled the table, and worked to get it sturdy, then told myself to let it be for now. I would tackle painting or staining this later.
We had a busy morning of sports on Saturday. Anthony had clean up at our school with his Cub Scout troop at 8am. Alexander and Ben played in their first soccer game at 11:30, and Anthony had to be at Baseball field at 12pm for a 2pm game.
On the way home I picked up 3 wooden chairs that were not an exact match at a resale store, and would paint them all black so they match. I am on a mission and I can't stop until it is done! John was a little under the weather, so he took a nap after our activities, and kids were playing, so I went back to the project… help me now - I am obsessed. I couldn't stand it. I had to make more progress. I painted the kid's desk, hung shelves, and started getting the area set up. And then, I used Glue for something... BIG MISTAKE!
And The Mystery of the Gorilla Glue – Fun Saturday Night entertainment!
Now is where it gets interesting. John napping, Kids playing, and Kim trying to make progress… I turned around for a split second and the GORILLA GLUE that I had just used was GONE! I still had the lid in my hand, so where ever it was, it was topless. Gorilla Glue in our house with no lid is a definite hazard. After I looked igh and low for the bottle, I called to Ben. After some interrogation, he did admit to putting it in his truck and then he couldn't remember where he went or which truck. We looked in every truck we could find. He was so puzzled and bless his heart, he was no help at all, but he was really trying to find the glue. I sent out a red alert to the whole family that there was a missing bottle of gorilla glue with no lid somewhere. The dog was banned to the crate as it was raining outside and I feared if she got the gorilla glue, it would kill her. That stuff foams up and would just seal her throat shut! I was now in panic mode. By dinner time, there was still not sign of the glue. I offered a reward to all kids. After kids were in bed, I vowed to get the glue before I went to sleep. I searched and pulled tables and chairs away, and still not luck. I eventually returned to my project in the office, determined to get to a stopping point so that I didn't have more dangerous items out the next day. John was sick in bed, so what the heck! It was about 1:30 am when I went into our guest bathroom to wash my hands from paint. Out of the corner of my eye, behind the shower curtain, I saw something. It was the TRUCK… with a open bottle of Gorilla Glue. Yippeee…
The reason I say that my mom came out in me is because Mom is known for her ability to get things into shape in record time. She may sweep a lot of things into drawers or cabinets and you may never find them again, but she can transform a house in a short period. She is a machine. I usually think I don't have much of that in me, but occasionally, if I get mad enough about something, it comes out. It probably wouldn't be great for our marriage, but hubby could probably get a lot of projects of high center by hitting my nerves a bit with his comments... thankfully, he doesn't do this often. It doesn't take much these days. Although I hated that he was so right about our Sanford & Sons office, I do feel good that it is now organized. I can do a few more tweaks, but it is a nice workable space, and hopefully we can keep it somewhat uncluttered.
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