Today I Accomplished Nothing

I said that to my husband, as we were discussing our days, over dinner. "The house is a wreck," I said. Bless the man, he laughed at me. He sees things differently. There are piles of laundry, both clean and dirty. Sure, all the diapers are folded and put away, and the laundry to be folded is in piles based on who it belongs to, and the dirty is sorted into loads to go into the washer, but I didn't *finish* it. That's because Kestrel needed to practice walking around the house. Four bunches of cilantro are still sitting in the fridge, waiting for me to transform them into pesto. They've been waiting a week already. I simply didn't get around to them, because Rowan needed a story read to him. There are balls of dog fur large enough to have their own microclimates rolling around on the floors, because I haven't vacuumed in... oh.... a really long time. But that's because by the time I had an opportunity to do it, Kestrel was sleeping, and only a very great fool trades a sleeping baby for a vacuumed floor. OK, so I did manage the grocery shopping. But I didn't get everything on the list, because Kestrel started fussing, and needed to be taken home, pronto. So I'll have to go again in the next few days. Oddly, I recognized his impatience and need to get out, while people in the store were still commenting on what a happy, calm baby I had. Makes me wonder what their standard for judgement is. I did do the big bathtub-toy-washing I was planning on doing, but that's because Rowan and I made a game of throwing all the toys into the net bag, and I let him push the buttons on the washing machine (moldy skanky bath toys *love* the sanitary cycle on the washer). And then we went and cuddled up in the glider and watched Star Wars while Kestrel finished his nap. The sinkful of dirty dishes (which, unfortunately, don't love the sanitary cycle on the washer, and must be done by hand) glared at me, but I ignored them successfully. And the dozen boiled eggs are nestled safely in the fridge; I was able to manage that, stepwise, because I'd put one egg in the water, go rescue Kestrel from wherever he'd gotten himself stuck, then go put another egg in the water, then Rowan would need lego help, then go put another egg in.... times twelve. Then boil. Then cool. One dozen eggs. Would have been a fifteen minute process for a normal human being. Took me an hour. So to continue the theme of the day, instead of tackling the chores after dinner, the four of us hung out together, played silly videos on Hubby's computer, Kestrel gnawed on everything, Rowan entertained himself, the cats, and his brother with his amazing raver flashing-light whistle. The boys eventually drifted off to sleep, and I followed them soon after. Hubby let the cats out and the dog in, and then snuggled up with the rest of us. I accomplished nothing. And I accomplished everything.