I unloaded, then reloaded the dishwasher. Made some pancakes. Picked through some suspect blueberries in hopes of finding some worthy to eat. Made a smoothie. And some coffee. I realized I should have made the coffee first since it helps increase my morning time efficiency. My youngest boy began to have back to back..to back meltdowns. And it was only 9 am. I’m not a meteorologist or a pessimist but I would predict that this day may be filled with stormy, glass half-empty moments. If I had a restart button on my kids, I would have bitten the bullet and just pushed his.

I started to pick up messes. Everywhere. And untangle an instrument caught in the hockey net. I reorganized the Jenga blocks. Mainly because I thought the house can’t look this bad this early in the day. It just can’t. In attempts to boost my confidence, I went to check the washing machine to see if I had any mildewed laundry in there. Nope. Score. I fluffed the clothes in the dryer. Maybe I will fold them today. I love that feature. The “touch up” button is my go-to move for the neglected, crinkled up clothes that have been hanging out in the dryer. For way too long. The sad missing clothes. It’s better being forgotten in the dryer than the washer, right?

I desperately needed to take a shower and wash my hair. Like two days ago. If only pools and the lake could have a sudsy feature. My self-esteem was counting on that shampoo to revive my hair and my attitude. I began to grab a few more things off of the floor, but then I stopped. I looked down and paused. I couldn’t force myself to throw away those paper airplanes. They took soooo long to make last week. The F-15 and the boomerang(that didn’t ever come back.) I had watched the YouTube videos (over and over) in attempts of making some really fast, really awesome, new paper airplanes. It took about an hour to make all the ones my boys each chose. Origami has never been a strength of mine. Big hands, little patience. Those paper airplanes reminded me of all the things that parents do. All day long. The things that don’t get checked off of a “To Do” list because they never got put on there to begin with.

So, at the end of today, when my house still looks like a tornado swept through or maybe a pack of robbers looking for some gold in all of the wrong places, I will look at those paper airplanes. On top of the piano. And try to be less hard on myself for the utter lack of “getting anything done.” I know one day that I will crave the attention of three little boys tugging on me to make them the fastest paper airplane.

I will try my best to cherish today. And the crazy everyday “todays” of having three young kids constantly destroying the house and replacing my to-do list with what’s the most important in their little eyes. Time spent together. Playing. Making creative messes. Time spent giggling. And time spent bummed out and crying on the kitchen floor. Time spent cleaning up spilled drinks. And time spent pushing the “touch up” button on the dryer and washing the forgotten mildewed clothes again too. Laundry will always win. And that’s just gonna have to be okay. I will take paper airplanes over folding and putting clothes away. Any day of the week.