Clean Up Every Day, Mess Up Every Day, Live in the Garbage Station Every Day — Next, Please Take a Lot
Life in a house full of toddlers is no less chaotic than a bustling garbage station. Every morning begins with a clean slate — floors mopped, dishes washed, toys neatly packed in colorful bins. For a brief moment, everything feels in order. But within minutes, it’s all undone.
A tiny tornado of little feet rushes through the living room. One child pours cereal all over the floor “just to see if the dog likes it.” Another drags out every toy known to mankind and builds a cityscape that spans three rooms. Finger paints become face paints, and the once-pristine white couch now wears a rainbow of “art.”
Despite it all, the parents clean. Again and again. They sweep, scrub, fold, organize — all while knowing that it will be destroyed within the hour. It’s not that they don’t try. It’s just that life with little ones means embracing messes as part of the journey.
“Clean up every day, mess up every day,” the mother mutters, half-laughing, half-crying, as she wipes yogurt off the wall — again.
Their home feels like a live-in garbage station: snack wrappers under the couch, lost socks in kitchen drawers, mysterious puddles that no one wants to investigate. And yet, amid the mess, there’s magic.
Because each mess holds a memory. The pile of puzzle pieces on the floor? That was from their first time completing a full puzzle without giving up. The tower of shoes at the doorway? A grand pretend “shoe shop” run by the five-year-old entrepreneur. Even the spaghetti on the ceiling has a story — dinner time giggles turned into a food fight.
So yes, it’s messy. Yes, they clean endlessly. But it’s also life, raw and real.
“Next, please take a lot,” she says with a smile, handing a basket of laundry to her partner, knowing another wave of chaos is coming.
This cycle of mess and clean isn’t failure — it’s love in motion. It’s parenting. It’s childhood. It’s a home that’s truly lived in. And while they may joke about living in a garbage station, they wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.
Because beneath the mess is joy. And that’s worth cleaning up for — every single day.
