We’ve had a rough morning, my boys and I. So much screaming and fighting and toy-stealing. Sebastian wanting what Alec has, Alec wanting what Sebastian has, neither of them being happy if I sit a bit to read my Bible and drink my coffee. I couldn’t even manage to get dressed.

Some mornings they’re little angels. They happily play with toys in the living room. They drive cars together on the dining room windowsill. Alec decides to go play in the green room, so Sebastian quits what he’s doing and follows him. Alec sits and looks at his big-boy books, and Sebastian sits and looks at his little-boy books.

Angels, like I said.

Not this morning. I couldn’t wait till Sebastian’s morning nap. That ended up not going so well either. When I came out from a long half-hour of fighting Sebastian to sleep, I sent Alec out to play on the back deck. All I wanted to do was grab a second cup of coffee and sit down at the computer to work on a photo book.

But today is Tuesday. Floor sweeping day, laundry folding day . . . not to mention dishes and meals and little boy maintenance.

In other words, I had things to do. And I knew it was going to get blazing hot later in the day. We don’t have our AC up and running yet, so by noon it’s already pretty hot in our house, and by evening we’re all sweating. I definitely didn’t want to still have floors to sweep by that time of the day.

So I started picking up toys. And you know what, with the fan blowing softly in the kitchen, and the beautiful birdsong coming in the open window, and the little boy noises coming sporadically from the back deck, it was actually really peaceful. There’s something settling about doing what needs to be done, even if it’s the last thing you want to do.

I came out from that fierce naptime fight with Sebastian, and I felt like I deserved to just sit and have some time to myself. There would’ve been nothing wrong with that either. The boys were taken care of and happy, and I had a bit of time to fill.

Often I do fill that slot of time with photo book making or something similar. But when I decide to use that time to get some of the housework done instead, I almost always feel better about my day. It’s not hanging over me, and when one boy comes in from the deck and the other wakes up from his nap, I’m not in the middle of something that I want to be doing, something that it annoys me to have interrupted. I’ve just finished something that was easier to do without them around, and I’m ready and happy to be with them again.

I hope that’s what happens today. Because one is still out on the deck, and the other is still sleeping, and I’ve swept most of my floors, and I’ve even written a blog post, and I’m ready for a better rest of the morning.

(Alec came in almost immediately after I finished writing this, and I told him to wipe his feet on the rug because I’d just swept the floor, and he got all excited and said, “Can I see?” and ran to the living room to very happily find the toys all picked up and the floors clean. “Good job, Mom!” he said delightedly. And that’s a pretty good reason to keep the floors swept, I’d say.)