At first glance, this looks like nothing but a huge mess. And – I’m not going to lie – it did make my heart beat a little faster and my eye twitch a bit. At first.

But once I exhaled, what caught my eye as I paused from bustling around the house this morning were these two beauties sharing the corner of their play space… hovered over a coloring book together. Together. 

This mess melted away as I watched my three-year-old and four-year-old, still wearing their jammies, chatting with each other and oblivious to their mama with tear-filled eyes as they worked together to create something beautiful. 

This mess is the adventure of Bo-Peep and Belle as they took turns riding on the back of Rex using a saddle made from leftover cardboard, hole punches, and yarn. It’s Belle falling off and her friends gathering around to help and pray for her. It’s Barbie and some Trolls making an appearance in the festivities at some point, as did the Magna-tiles, as obviously Barbie’s horse needed a barn. It’s my heart swelling with pride when Gavin came running, exclaiming, “Mommy, COME LOOK! I made a Ferris Wheel!” 

This mess is compassion and thoughtfulness, when that Ferris wheel accidentally fell over and big sister came to the rescue to help rebuild.

This mess is trucks being taken apart and put back together, tiny little hands figuring out how to hold a screwdriver and repeating, “Lefty-loosy, righty-tighty!” It’s perseverance, trying things over and over again, problem solving, and beginning again. 

This mess is peace, imagination, social skills, communication, creativity, motor skills,  and most of all, the safety and comfort of home. 

And while, when they’re finished, we’ll clean it up and put things back where they belong, I can see that it was never actually a mess at all. 

10/1/2020