It's a Phase

It's here. The next six months have arrived. I have a theory. It goes like this. Every six months (give or take) the kids go through a phase. Maybe all at the same time, maybe individually. Phases can overlap and often run together. Right now, we're entering the "I'm nearly two and can dump everything out" phase of the twins. It used to be that they would just play independently and roam around the house after me. This was great because they didn't leave a huge mess in their wake and I knew where they were. I was still productive and could get things done.

NOW....well, we're in the "I know Mom is in the house and we're going to go in the other direction so she doesn't find us" phase while we simultaneously empty any bin and upturn every toy in our way leaving a path of destruction behind us. This phase stinks. The paths of destruction often take off in different directions which doubles the damage. Every nook and cranny has a toy, a piece to a puzzle, a tiny car, a pretend tea cup and several sippy cups strewn about. I could literally spend all day retrieving and cleaning up their mess. Damage control is impossible.

I find I'm less productive because it's kind of depressing to clean and have it all destroyed in less time than it takes to snap your fingers. I feel like the house is cluttered, dirty, dingy, and out of order completely. This is messing with my Type A personality big time and I don't care for it one bit.

I usually tell myself when we hit a phase like this that it will be this way for 6 months and they'll grow out of it and into another crazy phase - probably drawing on walls!