The Invisible Mess

I think my family members need to get their eyesight checked. Do they make glasses that can help them see the toys left out on the floor? How about a pair that shows the dirty footprints they leave across the floor when they come inside after playing in the backyard and walk from the back porch door to the front door to take off their shoes? Contacts that show the crumbs on the counter that spilled from the box of cereal they poured for breakfast?

Lately I’ve been feeling that I am the only one in our house who notices the messes. I ask the boys to pick up their mess before going to bed and I’m met with a resounding: “What mess?” After pointing out the specific items in said mess – “the fire trucks, Duplos, and kinetic sand” – they will finally notice the items and usually after much grumbling will put the away. But why can’t they see them before I point them out?

When I go upstairs and into the boys’ bathroom I usually encounter toothpaste smeared on the counters, in the sink, and sometimes on the faucet handles. How can so much toothpaste end up everywhere except on their teeth and down the drain? Are they finger painting with it when I’m not looking? Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if the youngest was. That kid seems to make a mess everywhere he goes. Next to the bathtub is almost always a pile of dirty clothes. If I didn’t know that their dad had given them a bath the night before I would swear my children had disappeared in the reckoning leaving behind two full sets of clothing piled on the bathroom floor. A diaper usually included. Who needs to throw the diaper in the trash – or better yet, the diaper pail?

The other morning while getting ready for school my oldest said he didn’t have any clean pants. I had just done laundry, and I know he owns more than 2 pairs of pants, so how could he have none that morning? I asked him if his laundry hamper was full. He told me “No, I don’t think so.” I went upstairs to check and it was overflowing. One of his resolutions for the year is to bring his laundry hamper downstairs when it’s full. His karate dojo had all of the students write down three resolutions for home, school, and karate and I am here for it. I love having an outside source of accountability for him.

I am not the best housekeeper – and I will never pretend to be otherwise – but I really don’t understand how my family can not see the messes in the house. They will step over a toy in the middle of the floor for days before I just pick it up and put it away on my own. The boys will trip on toys that are left out and then get upset. And yet they will still leave the toy on the floor for it to claim its next tripping victim. If I suggest putting the toy away so it doesn’t happen again you would think I had just invented sliced bread.

I’m not sure how to help them see the messes they make and leave behind without constantly reminding (read: nagging) them about putting things away when they are finished. The playroom is always a disaster. I try to put things back in bins and straighten it up weekly so they have open floor space to play, but within the span of one afternoon the entire room looks like a toy store exploded. I love that they use their imaginations and have access to so many fun things, but not being able to cross the room without stepping on/over a dozen hot wheels cars, army men, and magnet tile spaceships can get frustrating.

Maybe the solutions isn’t that my family needs to have their eyesight checked. Maybe it’s that I need to get glasses. Mess filtering ones to be exact.