Calm before the storm.

The house is clean. And quiet. I've swept, wiped, vacuumed, mopped, dusted, folded, organized, and carried. And I've got 5 minutes to bask in the clean and quiet that is rarely found here, because in 5 minutes Jordan will come busting in the door, excited from a day at school, dropping his shoes, his coat, his bag wherever they fall as he jabbers about his day. Half an hour after that Celia will wake up and get her sippy, dribble milk along as she empties a toybox (or tissue box). Then Chris will get home, abandoning shoes, emptying his pockets on the dresser in the hall. And I'll start my messing making dinner creating kitchen stuff.

It's kind of bittersweet really. Because in 3 short years Celia will be in school all day. If I want, I can have my house clean by 10 in the morning and enjoy clean and quiet for a full 6 hours. When you think about it that way.....how boring! Now, I know things will come up, there will still be shopping that has to get done, schools to volunteer at, and other things will be found to do. But I'll no longer have a sweet little girl to play with all day. And my little boy won't be so little (it's stretching to even call him that now!). He'll be a cool middle school kid sliding in the door every day.

And a few years after that, he'll be off to college. Then she will. And while it will be nice for Chris and I to go out to dinner whenever we feel like it, or travel without making arrangements for kids.....our house will be very clean. And very quiet.

In any case, I'm going to drink my tea and enjoy my quiet cleanness for a few minutes before the chaos starts.