Neatness

Little known fact about me- from the ages of 19 to 21, I was on the rescue squad. I drove an ambulance, performed CPR, the works. Even though it seems like a lifetime ago, I learned so much from that experience. I saw people at their most vulnerable and I was welcomed into their homes, often in the middle of the night, at times when it wasn't at it's most presentable state.

Because of those experiences, I always made a point to make sure that my house was tidy. I wanted it to be 'emergency' ready. I'm nowhere near being a neat freak and more often than not, you'll find a layer of dust on my furniture, but I do like things in their place. I'm finding it's a lot harder to do with a baby running around the house.
This was the state of my living room today. Grace had a hard time sleeping last night so sleeping in this morning was a must. But because of that choice, I was running around like a chicken with it's head cut off trying to get me and my child to church on time. And as is the case nowadays, in order for me to get something done, like brush my teeth, make my face presentable, and get dressed, I have to be okay with Grace making a mess somewhere. And she did a good job of it this morning. I didn't even get a chance to make my bed, and it really annoys me when my bed goes unmade.

Then at church, I was confident we were going to get through the whole Mass without incident. There is a baby cry area in the back of the church which is a little room enclosed in glass that has speakers in it so you can still hear what the priest is saying. I consider myself defeated if I have to go in there with the rest of the screaming kids and their frazzled parents. I was defeated today. We got through fifteen minutes of the mass before Grace decided to check out how well her voice echoed in church. I grabbed her diaper bag and our coats and did the walk of shame to the room.


The rest of the day was fabulous though. We hung out at home playing and reading books. Grace is really into her board books lately and I'm definitely not one to discourage that. I must've read her entire library collection at least twice today, and her favorites countless times. We both took long afternoon naps and then she ate her broccoli without fuss at dinner. After a bath, more reading, and watching a little Food Network with me, she went to bed without a fight. Can't complain about any of that!