Declaring war and other delusions of grandeur

Note: This post should have been uploaded on Saturday, but due to my craziness, it did not upload properly.


We have a room in our house that should be a formal living room. In my dreams this will be a room free of TV and toys, containing bookcases, groups of comfy chairs and low tables so when entertaining it will be a room where holding a conversation is possible. In my favorite delusion it is a quiet place to relax curled up with a book or to write. I guess a few puzzles or games can be occasionally invited in, but only if they are on their best behavior.

Those times are light years away so I spent half my day waging war on the toy room. The months of my inattentiveness when work has eaten my soul have taken their toll.

A few happy meal toys made their way into the room. As many parents know when two or more of these toys mingle for an extended period of time they tend to reproduce at a rate that would shame the most fertile rabbit.

My hope was to get all the toys out, sorted, and the carpets steam cleaned before the day was over. This was a serious undertaking because to fend off all the tantrums that I knew would inevitably take place; I did not explain to the kids what each pile was. When they weren't dragging the toys back into the toy room, they were rearranging the piles of toys.

Had the kids known what the piles were; toys such as the alphabet train Buckaroo got for Christmas that is still in its bubble wrap or the Barbie who was given a bath in a sink of chocolate milk would have suddenly become the most precious toys they own.

Even though I failed to get the carpet steam cleaned today, only half of the toys will be making the return trip after. The other half are awaiting their fate of going to the curb on garbage day or the garage sale I keep saying I will have one day. All things told, I feel like it was a successful day.