The Messes We Make

I assume that if I were to walk through all of your houses on a messy day, the messes would all be a little bit different. We probably have some commonalities, but I think we also have certain habits and possessions that lend us to our own unique messes. I've been thinking about the messes in my house - the ones I clean up over and over - and I decided to compile a list of the Top Ten Messy Offenders in my home.

#10: Books

My whole family is terrible about putting books away (myself included). The kids leave books all over the floor and on every flat surface of their rooms. I, too, leave books everywhere - primarily on counters. 

#9: Blankets

All of my kids love have loved blankets from birth. Some of them have attached to a specific one, like Nicky with his Thomas the Train blanket that really isn't even a blanket - it's just an unfinished piece of fleece fabric. Others have just loved any blanket they can get their hands on. 

What I'm getting to is that my kids (and Scotty) all love blankets, and they drag them all over the house. There are blankets everywhere. There are always at least three littered around the living room. There are usually two in the van (one for Eva and one for Zoe). And there are always about five on my bed (Scotty has restless leg, so he piles blankets on top of his legs every night). They are also on the floor of every bedroom, and my kids are notorious for draping them aross the backs of their kitchen chairs. 

Because we can't even get through meals without blankets!

#8: Shoes

The shoes are everywhere until we need a matching pair. Then suddenly, they are nowhere.

#7: Hair Stuff

I have three daughters. Our vacuum canister is 20% bobby pins and 16% elastics.

#6: Projects

My kids like making "stuff." They drag the recycle bin in the house regularly and chop everything into little tiny bits. They glue and tape and paint, and it's always a disaster. They spill the cups of water with the paintbrushes, they get glitter all over the kitchen table, and they punch holes in any piece of paper they can get their hands on. 

#5: Garbage

My kids have no idea what a garbage can is. And the rate at which they create garbage is incredible! Where do they find all of this stuff? 

#4: Dishes

I'm not just talking about the ones we eat on, either. My kids like playing with things from the utensil drawer, so I find measuring cups, spoons, and tongs in the most random places. 

Zoe has a weird obsession with ladles. She's always stealing them to make "soup." This involves filling a laundry basket with the most random things she can find and stirring it all together with a ladle. 

#3: Food

Sometimes I think it might be worth it to get a dog, but then I realize that I can just put a chicken or two in the house if I'm desperate. The food messes are legit around here, especially with a four-year-old who insists on making pancakes every day and a one-year-old who throws all of her food down the stairs (the curse of having her high chair close to the banister - but there isn't really anywhere else to put it. 

#2: Clothes

My family members will strip anywhere and everywhere. They've learned this from their father who can't keep pants on, for some reason. The second he gets home from anywhere, he takes his pants off. Then we have times where he needs his pants, and he can't remember where he took them off. 

Yes, my husband routinely misplaces his pants. The struggle is real.

Now add the kids to the mix, and you've got yourself some messes!

#1: Toys

This one is obvious with four young children in the house. We have toys coming out our ears, and they are all over the place. I keep getting rid of them, and then new ones spawn from unexplainable places. It's quite the phenomenon!

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We also have some regular messes that didn't quite make the list. For example, Eva and Zoe always squirt the bathroom mirror with the squirt bottle. There are always blobs of toothpaste on every surface of the bathroom. Zoe always puts on lipstick and kisses the mirror, then she leaves the lipstick out, and Eva comes along and paints her face. My kids leave their bath towels on the floor daily. I'm forever dodging Shopkins and Legos with the vacuum. Chicken poop residue is a common discovery on the kitchen floor. Random batteries and screws turn up in every nook and cranny. Writing utensils are everywhere... until you need one. Zoe fills up toys with water and leaves them sitting around the house, and then they get knocked over. Zoe also likes to drag pillow cases around the house, and since each of my kids has their own pillow case for each holiday (courtesy of my mom), we have a lot of pillow cases. 

And now you know what to expect around here. Just one, big, continual mess.