Order? An Ode to Hubbie

Kiddos,

I would be lying to myself and everyone if I thought I was in charge of ANY of the order 

we have in this house right now.  

The reason I know this for sure-  

Hubbie has left for NY and we have hit code red/ threat level orange/

someone please call Maria and make her move in level.  

Kids, you know this, but in case you don't, your grandmother Hubbie is a SAINT!  

She has been holding this house together since April 8.  

I thought I was doing pretty well, and starting to get myself together, 

and found that on the first day without her, by 3pm, 

all four of us were in tears missing our hubs.  

Not only does she DO everything from laundry, 

to the dishwasher, to making sure we have everything we need, 

to helping you keep your rooms organized, to making me a daily to-do list, 

but she does all of this with (in her words- not mine) gusto, zest, etc.  

She makes math facts fun.  

She reads book, after book, after book about dinosaurs, pandas, friendship, 

snakes and every topic in between.  

Someone is having problems with girls at school- no problem.  

Hubbie is reading the American Girl book about friendship with you, 

doing role play scenarios, then she is drawing you a picture of yourself

 holding a "You've got this" poster,

 and sending you off to tackle the next day with a high five.  

Having trouble with sass or talking back?

  She will not give you stares of death or yell "who the F do you think you are?",

she will sit down with you, talk about it rationally, 

then come up with a code word to say to you as a reminder to watch your mouth- 

one kid here may have "apple" as their code word:)

I think Hubbie was worried about leaving us too.  

Her last night here, she got as much organized as she could- 

like any mother preparing to leave on a trip with a house braced to withstand her absence.  

Outfits for the days, carefully wrapped and labeled.  

A final checklist for me, labeled, "Your right now list."

She even completed a few projects in the last couple days before her trip.

We needed some revised order in our kitchen.

Hubbard drove to San Francisco to buy the microwave that fit in this little space.

Hopefully counters clear of clutter = minds clear of clutter.

We also needed to figure out a system to keep track of all things Anna.

No problem, we have parking spaces.

We never lose these things!

(Anna keeps her retainer here during the day or while she is eating.

 Her glasses can park here if she needs to take them off for some reason.)

So, while I know there will be a day when I can dream of leading the organizational charge.

This isn't it. 

Maybe 2015?  Maybe not.

xoxo

mom