Ridiculously Unimportant

I picked up that phrase (Ridiculously Unimportant) from a friend who wrote about something super deep and meaningful and difficult she’s going through, and how it helps her realize how Ridiculously Unimportant so many things are.

Those two words just jumped out at me.  Much of motherhood is sifting through everything, trying to cling to those things that really ARE important, and let go of things that aren’t.

And so I must finish my Cheerios Story because it’s such a great example of something that could have caused all kinds of angst, but which actually falls in that Ridiculously Unimportant category.  We must set our sights higher than breakfast cereal, ladies.

Back to the moment.
I was hiding in the office, listening intently to the little boys in the hallway,
trying to gather the courage & strength to go out and face the mess I knew was waiting for me.

I knew it was going to be epic when I heard the 3yo Freedom say to the 2yo Gentleman,
“Yeah!  Great idea Gent – let’s sweep it up!”
and I still hadn’t quite summoned the energy to go Deal With It.  As you may have noticed from that post, I wasn’t in the most chipper and energetic of moods at the time.

Sometimes it’s better to wait until you know you’ll be able to see the funny parts before surveying the disaster.  Go out too quickly and… well, I erred on the side of caution this time and waited while they “swept” up that cheerio mountain.  What it cost me in Major Mess status it more than made up for in Hilarity.

Really!  It was just too funny.  No wonder I heard so much crunching — you couldn’t get anywhere without stepping on them.

I laughed myself right of that melancholy mood, much to the relief of the entire realm of Smithtopia.  Turns out, smiling isn’t so hard when there’s something funny to giggle about.

I really love that you can see they tried to get out the dustpan and take care of it. (I think I moved the broom laying across the hallway before I took the pictures. It was there too at first.) What good little workers I have.

Now the really beautiful part…

…was that my Very Cleanly Neighbor (who I love dearly even if her house always looks like a model home) had the oddest impression while she was cleaning her bathroom just then.  Right about the time I finished taking those pictures, actually. I hope she doesn’t mind my telling all of you about this fun little experience.  It’s pretty representative of the way we help each other out in this neighborhood.

“You need to go clean something up at the Smith’s.”

“But I’m not done cleaning this bathroom yet.”   (Cleaning makes her happy.  It really does.)

“Okay, finish up, but then go clean something at the Smith’s.”

We both ended up on our front porches at the same time.  I was still chuckling, debating whether or not to scare my Very Cleanly Neighbor by showing her what I was giggling at.

“What’s so funny?”

“Wanna come see?”

“Whatever it is, I’ll clean it up.”

…. How’d she know it was going to need cleaning? thought I.  I mean, other than that it’s my house and my house ALWAYS has something that needs cleaning.  Like, its entirety.  But anyway…

She got right to work and took care of it, calling it a birthday present for my daughter*, who was on floor duty that week.  I tried not to feel lazy as I watched her go to town with those Cheerios.  I figure, if the Spirit told her to do it, I should not say, “No no no, I can do it.”

“Thank you” doesn’t seem like enough sometimes,

but it’s what I have.

Just after she finished getting it all cleaned up, another Very Cleanly Neighbor Who I Love Dearly came by (having seen my fb status) asking if I wanted help with those Cheerios.  I felt so loved!  I’m seriously surrounded by angels in this little circle of families.  It’s wonderful.  I can’t wait to be more on the giving end than the receiving end.  5 weeks and counting, right?  Oh, and then the 8 weeks of finding my feet again post-baby.  Right.

*Yes, for those of you who caught that little reference – that was Creativity’s birthday, and all I posted about was Cheerios.  Next post will be about her, really.  Number Pizza and all.  At least, I think it will.

We do have company coming this week, a choir concert, and exterminators coming to deal with my new nemesis, Bedbugs.

So no biggie.  I’m sure I’ll have lots of time to write here.

Speaking of bedbugss, though, it does relate to this little Cheerio incident, which is why I let it slip out.

What do bedbugs have to do with Cheerios?

I’m glad you asked.

No, bedbugs don’t care if your house is dirty.  Google told me so.  (Whew!  No guilt over my “causing” the crisis by my kids’ rooms being messy.  This is one of those struck-by-lightning-aren’t-you-lucky things.  Also, being hit by the bedbug lightning is actually not super-unheard-of in Hawaii.  Definitely not as common as lice, but they’re here.  Don’t you wish you lived here, too?  Bugs love it just as much as the tourists.)

Anyway, it relates to Cheerios because I discovered conclusive evidence of BedBugs residing in the kids’ rooms the day after this lovely, funny little mess.  My “laugh, don’t cry” reflex had been so recently used that it carried me through a much bigger disaster.  It’s hard to really be miserable about something if you can laugh about it.

Wouldn’t you rather just laugh and enjoy the ride than freak out at every little dip and turn?

Didn’t see this coming, that’s for sure.  Wouldn’t wish it on anybody, that’s also for sure!  I’ve spent many hours since then feeling like I was being hit by a ton of bricks.  I’ll spare you the gory details of all that has to be taken care of now.  To think I thought lice was hard!… I nearly had a nervous breakdown over that one… THIS is… Nearly as bad as moving.  😉

BUT!

I’m grateful we caught it early, and that it didn’t happen any closer to Baby#6’s birth (before it or after), and that I haven’t ever “nested” with any of my other pregnancies.  This little task is more than making up for all the cleaning I didn’t care to do before.   Mwahahaha.

Tagged as: optimism