Spring Tornadoes

We have had some wild weather around here lately. Lots of wind and rain. Yards are flooded, as are some streets. And while we haven't yet had a spring tornado outside of the house, we have one inside of our house. It goes by the name of Aaron. But I bet you guessed that.

One of my biggest pet peeves is people who do not clean up after themselves. That lesson is a tough one for kids to learn, I suspect -- based on the number of moms I know who complain about that same thing. I find myself, daily, asking the kids and Tim to please put things away when they are done with them. If everyone put the things away that they used, then really, I spend a lot less time during the day spinning my wheels.


Aaron is the king of not putting things away, and truth be told, he reminds me of a tornado. You can follow his path of destruction from the kitchen, to the dining room, the living room, and family room. You will even find evidence in the bathroom. I find crayons on the floor, towers that are half built, books open to pages where he stopped reading, and pedometer skeletons waiting to be rebuilt. He is curious about everything, and I really don't want to squelch that characteristic when I ask him to put his things away. But at this point, things have gotten out of hand.

I don't have enough time, energy, or resources to build Aaron his own space in our house, but I can get him a shelf in the basement. I'll probably end up getting everyone their own shelf. The blocks and toys will need to be put away, but projects that are partially finished and random computer parts and batteries can each have their own little home inside our home. Hopefully, that will cut down on the number of tornadoes we have around here!