My new mantra is ‘totally normal, totally normal’

Because what is normal anyway right?

Yesterday I cleaned out our ‘woods’

This is where the boys have built and torn down may ‘forts’ and ‘cabins’

And actually the girls have too

It’s amazing

And ‘totally normal’

How much stuff gets left in the woods during the construction and use of these forts

While they are building they get sweaty and remove coats and sweatshirts, and apparently even shoes

They bring armloads of our reusable water bottles filled with ice water out there

They must take breaks because they bring chairs and books and little side tables

They use wheelbarrows, and shovels and hedge trimmers and five gallon buckets, and ice cream buckets

Hammers and nails and tape measures and containers for their stuff

They ride their bikes out there

They use the snow sleds to haul stuff out there

That’s all before they actually camp out there

Then they really start to bring the stuff

Sleeping bags and pillows and queen comforters

Flashlights, lanterns, and headlamps

Cast iron skillets, tongs, spatulas, utensils, more water jugs, plates, silverware

I love when they come in the kitchen and ask for food for these camping trips, really

It’s a great way to get rid of bread heals, stale buns and questionable hot dogs and scrape clean the three ‘empty’ peanut butter jars in the cupboard, and use up the last little bits of jam from the bottom of the jars

Totally normal

And they bring some of it back

And leave plenty of it out there

For the entire winter

A lot of questions get answered in spring

Like ‘Why are we always short on blankets?

‘I know I had a tape measure in here’

“Where is a shovel when you need one?’

So yesterday it took me three heaping wheelbarrows full to get the woods cleaned out

I dumped it all on the back patio

Totally normal

That was my workout for the day

And today the kids have their work cut out

I am not sure what educational subject to call it yet

Home Economics? Family psychology?

Maybe I could turn it into math…

‘If mom draws one comic per fifteen minutes and it takes you three hours to get this all cleaned up, how many comics can mom draw while you guys are cleaning?’

It will take at least three hours, each item will be a distraction

“Hey I wondered where this basketball was!’

‘Who wants to play around the world?’

And I will have to make that difficult parenting decision of whether or not to get them back on task or just keep drawing comics

Until someone comes in crying

‘ITWASMYTURNANDTHEYARENOTPLAYINGBYTHERULESANDTHEYSAIDTHERESNOHOLDINGBUTTHEREISANDSHEDIDBABYHANDSANDTHATSAGAINSTTHERULESANDYOUHAVETODODOMETHINGABOUTITRIGHTNOW!!’

Totally normal