Summertime and the livin' is easy.

I'm so glad that my 7 yr old boy spilled that tumbler full of saturated sugar water in the bottom of my freezer.  What else would I have found to do with that hour and a half of wiping, dripping and mopping?  (The many, many ants which live, uninvited, in our home were especially pleased, I'm sure.  Beats that Borax we've been diligently feeding them.)
     Throughout the homeschooling year I always look forward to summer because logically, if you remove 4 hours of lessons from the day there should be a lot of extra time for those projects you've put off all year.  But there must be some kind of mathematical glitch in that thinking.  I'd love to be sewing for four hours to stock pile "Wooly Mama" stuff for the encroaching Fall markets, but I find myself just pouring more glasses of milk and wiping them up when they spill, refereeing more disagreements between Super Competitive Eldest Boy and his younger brother, Mild Mannered Until You Beat Him and Brag About it for the 63rd Time This Week,  searching for lost flip flops of which there were 8 at the beginning of the season, preparing snacks for the starving child who had lunch 10 minutes ago(the dishes for which are still waiting for me on the counter, which is sticky)  and I can't account for what else fills my time.  But fill it it does. 

I wrote this in about 10 minutes without any brainsearching at all after reading "If You Give A Pig A Pancake" to my daughter, realizing that Laura Numeroff must watch through my windows on certain days: (apologies to FB friends who may have seen this before.)

If you give Anneke a muffin, she'll want you to boil water and dust off the teacups for a tea party.
So you'll put down your laundry and fill the kettle.
While you're waiting for the kettle to boil, Anneke will ask you to go up the stairs to drag down the rubbermaid of duplo.
30 seconds of dumping all the blocks on the floor will reveal that the one inch duplo figure of Dora is missing and you'll be asked where it is.
You'll walk back up stairs and dig for that stray Mexican in the wooden block bin where you'll find a half eaten sandwich left by Ruby 4 months ago.
Seeing the sandwich will remind you that the children are long overdue for a wholesome snack.
You'll go back downstairs, stopping briefly to press the hush button on the fire alarm set off by the burning of whatever was in the stove element you used to boil the water that has all boiled away.
You'll find a cucumber in the back of the fridge that isn't too limp and you'll chop a pile of slices for each child.
Isaac won't eat his and they will roll under the table gathering dust and cheerios until they land in the cold air return.
The dust will remind you that you didn't nag Tobin nearly enough to do his chore of sweeping after lunch.
You'll resume your nagging and be shushed due to an important hockey card transaction being in progress on the living room floor.
Seeing 422 unsorted hockey cards on the carpet will remind you that you need to vacuum before 5:00. You'll descend the basement steps to find the 90 lb upright vac and step on a jewel case for Ed's library CD, due today.
You'll check inside to see if you scratched the CD only to find it missing.
You'll go back upstairs wishing you had never taught the 4 year old to work the CD player as you open and shut all the CD cases until you find the missing Radiohead CD in the Wee Sing-a-long case.
Seeing the pink cupcakes on the cover art will remind you of muffins and Anneke.
It will be very, very quiet.
After a furtive search you will find her and Ruby in the bathroom wrapping up chunks of chocolate muffin in 15 clean diapers. You'll leave them to it and walk outside. Where it will be raining.
  
    If I'm completely honest, this is not true.  There are idle moments between these crazy moments that could be used to write the Great Canadian Novel or other constructive and creative projects but too often these are spent wandering listlessly, assessing damage, and lamenting the fact that if I did sit down to begin something I couldn't count down from 10 before someone urgently needed my help to find the green paperclip that went missing 14 months ago.  And of course, lest I come across as whiny, (dear Lord, no more whining, especially from Mom) there are also many wonderful hours spent swimming in other people's pools, digging gopher holes in the lawn, beaching it, and reading lots of stories and chapters from our favourite books.  I do realize how blessed we are despite the harrowing trials of sticky floors and toddlers who don't clean up after themselves.

So I do love summer but, once again, I must recalibrate my expectations.  i.e.  make them lower.  But I really am going to go take on the boys' closet right now.  Wheeee!