Shoe hunt

Have you seen that Mother's Day card that says something like "Hey Mom, on your special day, take it easy. Don't worry about the laundry, dishes and vacuuming." And then on the inside it says, "Because it'll all still be here tomorrow."?

I think I've given that card to my Mom. At least once.

It's sad how true it is.

I started the laundry this morning before leaving for work. Came home and cooked dinner and then cleaned up the kitchen. About the time I moved on to vacuuming the living room, I heard Sydney comment to AJ, "Dad does the most work around here because he's the dad."

I must have mis-heard her over the sound of the vacuum.

Meanwhile, I'm trying to figure out a better system of organizing shoes. This is what we've currently got, and it's just not working.

Note that the only shoes of mine in the above pile are the black flip flops at the bottom of the shot, as well as the lone brown boot in the far background, which is only there because the dog dropped it there.

I was searching through the massive shoe pile one morning last week, desperately trying to find one of Sydney's missing shoes. I told her she needed to help me look.

Five minutes passed. No shoe. By then, there was also no sign of Sydney. I called out for her and asked her if she'd found her shoe yet. She hadn't started looking for her shoe, she told me. She was still looking for a magnifying glass, which apparently she felt was necessary in order to search for the shoe.

Grrr!!!!

Remember me mentioning all the work we did cleaning the house last weekend? This is the kids' play table, and believe me it's remarkably clear of junk compared to usual.

It was while staring at the table that I happened to see the missing shoe just barely sticking out from beneath the table. I bent down to retrieve it. And that's when I discovered where all the toys that typically cover the table have gone:

I need a better system. Or a maid. Or a whole lot of consecutive Mother's Days so that I can live in denial.