Thanks for the reminder...

I love my kids.

Just thought I should put that out there first.

I miss my house.

The clean one.

The one where there are no marks on the walls and stuff is actually not strung out all over the floor put away.

Sometimes the disorder really gets to me.

I was upstairs today, putting away clean laundry and I was having a "moment".

You know the one?

The one where you are just so darn sick and tired of...

Picking up...puzzle pieces...game pieces...bits of crayons...

Stepping on Legos (my heel still winces at the memory of that fateful night)...beads...food on the floor...

Looking around and wondering...why there is paper all over the floor...where did my clean house go...why are there crayon marks on the wall...again...

Pining away for...free time...a clean house...my remodel finished...

And...while I was having my extended moment...

I forgot...

About the big picture...

About why I do this...

But then...

Levi handed me a small piece of paper.

It had a heart on it that he had colored.

I stopped putting away the laundry and said...

"Thank you Levi! I'm going to put it into my pocket where it will be safe."

"Mommy," he said, "there's something on the back too."

I turned it over and this is what I found...

My first thought was..."Huh?"

But as I looked closer I was able to pick out some letters so I totally guessed made an educated guess.

"It says, I love you?"

He was positively beaming as he nodded his head, so proud.

At that moment, my crayon-picking-up, lego-stepping on, clean house missing hardened heart melted a little.

I scooped him up for a big ol hug and told him how much I loved him too.

And I remembered...

Why I do this...

Day in and day out...

I'll do better...

And try not to ever forget why again...

Thanks Levi for the reminder.