Sibling games

My mornings have been the same thus far. I consciously begin to wake by the sounds of giggles, conversation, and little cars being strung across my living room floor.

In my household, this is known as a car race.

My two children have mustered up a game where they take EVERY one of my son's cars and push them across the floor to see who can get theirs to go the furthest.

Some mornings, my blood pressure raises from the sounds of 50 plus cars crowding up my living room, hitting off the baseboards at high velocity. Then other mornings, my heart melts from hearing them laugh and coach each other and offer strategies on how to do better with the next car.

Nonetheless, the game always ends up the same way, by abruptly stopping and leaving 50 plus cars scattered aimlessly across my hard wood floors. Suddenly, they proceed to move onto another task, which usually consists of jumping in bed with mommy for morning snuggles -which I'll never tire of. That's when I ask my oldest if the living room is free of cars and her response is frequently the same as, "maybe you shouldn't go in there yet." Then my daughter hops out of bed, also luring her brother out, saying she forgot something in the other room.

There's a quick pause... Ending with the sound of cars clanking together as they're thrown into the mesh basket. 

However, lately my daughter has been able to conjure my son into assisting with the clean up, before I can even come in the room and assess the situation...

Some call it well mannered...
I call it evidence shredding.

These truly are the happy days, as I'm able to sit back and listen to the joyful sounds of my two children living life the way it is meant to be lived. To enjoy the simplicity of childhood -making games out of practically nothing, allowing their imaginations to run completely wild, and building an incredible friendship with their sibling. 

Although, the sounds of those massive quantities of cars being spilled onto my hardwood floor is a distinct sound that I doubt I'll forget for a long time. Truthfully, on some days, the thought of cleaning it ALL up myself drives me mad. But, after I'm done creeping around on my hands and knees, picking up each individual car, I stop and stare at the empty floor and quickly notice the silence in the room. I have a moment of anguish, as I realize a few 50 cars on my floor isn't that much of a big deal in the scheme of things. That one day, yes, my living room will be clean of cars, but I'll never hear this game being played again. A game that right now, is as consistent as the sun rising. A game that brings more amusement to my children's lives than most toys and games. It's at that moment of distraught and self evaluation, that I hear something else spill out onto the playroom floor and laugh to myself at the irony of motherhood... Knowing that life is completely chaotic, and will be for years to come, but one day, it will all be completely calm and I'll be yearning for these happy days.