By The End Of The Day, It Always Looks Like I've Done Nothing

I did nothing today.

I was heading to bed. Walking around the house, shutting off the lights, and making sure the doors were locked.

I walked through the laundry room. Dirty laundry was piled into a basket spilling out onto the floor. A load in the washing machine I had forgotten to put into the dryer. I’ll wash it again tomorrow.

In the kitchen, the dishwasher door was hanging open. A load of clean dishes needed to be put away, and dishes overflowing in the sink would need to be rinsed and put into the dishwasher once the clean ones were dealt with. I’ll do it tomorrow.

I stepped on a few toys as I walked in the darkness, and when I got to the living room, I saw complete destruction. Puzzle pieces, cars, pillows, blankets. I couldn’t even see the floor. I’ll pick it up tomorrow.

In the hallway, my bare feet picked up specks of dirt the kids had tracked in when I brought them in from outside. Crumbs that had been dropped after snack time. I’ll vacuum when I get a chance tomorrow.

I got to the bottom of the stairs and was about to go up when I noticed movement. It was the dog. She was prancing around as if something was wrong. I turned on the light to examine her and noticed she had poop stuck in her fur from when she went to the bathroom. Back to the kitchen I went for a pair of scissors. Trimmed the poopy hair and sent her upstairs. I’ll give her a bath tomorrow.

I finally got to the bedroom and heard the 3-year-old crying for me. He had peed the bed because he had too much to drink before bed. I changed his clothes, threw a blanket on top of his sheet, and told him to go back to sleep. I’ll change the sheets tomorrow.

It might seem like I did nothing, but…

I did all the laundry in the house today. It was washed, dried, folded, and put away. But the kids went outside and got really muddy so they needed changing. Then the toddler had a potty training mishap where she peed on me and her (twice), so we both needed new outfits. So the laundry started piling up again. I got caught up with dinner and bedtime, so I forgot I put a load of laundry in the washing machine and it never did make it to the dryer.

I unloaded the dishwasher today. All the clean dishes were put away. I rinsed the dirty dishes in the sink and loaded them into the dishwasher. There were so many from the night before that it was already time to run it again. So tonight’s dinner dishes are in the sink waiting to be rinsed and loaded after I unload the clean ones that are still in the dishwasher.

I picked up the toys today. Several times. But when Dad came home from work, the kids were excited. They did puzzles and raced cars. They even built a blanket tent. So now it looks like a toy store threw up in my living room.

I vacuumed today. Every room. But the kids went outside and got dirty. They tracked dirt through the house. And snacks can be messy. The crumbs stayed on their hands and shirts. By the time I went to bed, the floor was dirty again.

I gave the dog a bath today. She has been needing one. Afterward, she smelled so nice. But I forgot to trim her butt hair, and sometimes poop gets stuck in there when she goes to the bathroom, so now she’s dirty again.

I changed the sheets today. I washed, dried, and put them back on the beds. But the 3-year-old wanted a snack before bed, and I stupidly gave him salty chips so he drank a ton of water afterward and peed the bed.

You see, I did everything today, but by the time bedtime comes, you would never know.

Tomorrow I think I will do nothing again.