Parenting is just an ongoing attempt to clean the kitchen. Just when you’re about to get a counter cleared off, a spoon, an empty orange juice container, an errant paintbrush appears. Just as you’re moving to get the spoon to the dishwasher, orange juice container to the trash, and paintbrush to the art closet; you turn to find the neighboring counters have been invaded by things you did not know were in your house in the first place
And, this is your day, a domestic Battle of Helms Deep. And, you thought you were going to get to the crossword…or a shower.
But you’re not. You will always be cleaning the kitchen. You will always be learning new things. Rubbing alcohol gets Sharpie® off the kitchen table. (It also gets “thinking” putty off a 10yo’s favorite blanket.) Cooking half a cup of red lentils before adding the marinara sauce will help you feel like you’re making a much healthier meal. An at-will snack basket and refrigerator drawer that closes an hour before meals will save more headaches than you can imagine.
Asking for everyone’s high and low from the day at dinnertime will help you to see moments and know feelings you missed during the day. A ritual of putting a penny in an old peanut butter jar after dinner as each person shares what they’re grateful for will sometimes turn around the most violently aggressive days.
Guess Who with cups of cocoa can feel like a hug. Painting rocks can last as many hours as you need because you’ve got unheard of rock access.
Learning which is the trash and which is the recycling is hard. Knowing which goes in which is harder.
You will never know how messy you are until the dogs are away for a night.
Parenting is cleaning the kitchen, and it’s so much better than cleaning the bathroom or vacuuming the living room or cleaning under the beds. It’s in the heart of the house. It nourishes the family. It is warm and hectic. It is never done.