Redemption.

My kids really amaze me. No, seriously, they do. They are all their own little people, with their own thoughts and feelings and ideas and they want to run their lives their way... and they're only 3 and 4.5! Sheesh!

Anyway, after yesterday's ingloriousness (is that even a word? not sure, but I like it), my kids found redemption this morning. As I was lying in bed at about 7:00 this morning, feeling like absolute dog doo-doo, I heard them cavorting downstairs, but quietly. No fights, no screaming, no crying, and no movie on either. So I thought, "hey, that's nice, they're playing nicely together."

I got up to go to the bathroom, and heard them scurrying about downstairs. Suddenly, Miss D comes running up the stairs and demands that I simply MUST come downstairs and see what they've been doing.

Now, those of you who have been parents (and I'm assuming that's just about every single person who has ever laid eyes on this blog) know that when the kids are quiet and happy for an extended period of time and then uber-excited to show you what they've been doing.... well, let's just say it's usually not good! Painted walls, puddles of pee, those are the sorts of things that come to mind.

But not today, no siree bob (how do you spell "siree," anyway?). My adorable, lovely, stubborn, wonderful, rage-inducing children had decided to clean up the entire downstairs of our home. They had put away every single toy and article of clothing that had been strewn about the place. The 17 pieces of the porcelain tea set that had been all over the family room floor when I went to bed last night were neatly stacked, in color-coordinated glory, on the tray where they belong. There was not a wet pair of pee-soaked pants anywhere on the floor. Their beds were made, for goodness sake (I have no idea how they even know what a "made" bed is, 'cuz the powers that be surely know that I do not make beds, never have -- and I certainly haven't taught my children to make beds! Bwahahahaha! That'd be a good one, huh?).

So anyway, I seriously had to cry. I gushed to them how amazed I was. I told them it was the nicest thing they'd ever done for me (it was!). And I cried. Me. In fact, if I tried I could wrestle up a tear right now just thinking about it.

Of course, I also ruined it by feeling guilty, thinking about how much I must have scared them during my scream-fests yesterday to make them want to please me that bad. *sigh* This parenting thing sure ain't easy, is it?

Ah well... today is a better day. Redemption.