So... I caved.

In the battle of the playroom, I have a confession to make. Today, while my mother-in-law had my kids, I caved. I cleaned the room. Not all of it, but I got more done in 45 minutes of uninterrupted cleaning than my kids have gotten done in a month! I know, this goes against everything I've stated, but I was doing some organizing and one thing led to another... 

I got a lot done today all over while the kids were away. I built a little rolling drawer cart for the kids crafts and coloring items. It's in the kitchen, next to the dining table where they will be required to do most of their coloring. I'm kind of sick of them "accidentally" coloring on my walls. 

As soon as my in-laws brought my kids home, Aubrey sat down at the table and started coloring again, and Jayden pulled out their "rocket" which is really just a couple of cardboard boxes I gave them along with access to my sharpie collection and a bunch of glitter glue. The kids have been working on the "rocket" or "house" depending on the story they are telling at the time, for a couple of weeks now. Every day they seem to need to add more marker or glue to make it just right. 

It's only been a few hours, but so far the kitchen craft corner is a success. I can work on dinner and they can bounce easily between helping me, and coloring. 

Tonight, I made turkey noodle soup. I had no recipe for it, I just winged it. I know it was a success though because BJ had 3 bowls. While I prepped and cooked, which took me hours because I'm slow in the kitchen, the kids sat at the table and played with playdough or colored. 

Slowly it seems things are returning to normal around here. There is balance and peace more often than not. As a result, you can see the changes starting to make their way through the rest of the house. Progress may be slow, but it's progress nonetheless.