Riddle me this: why is my house such a mess when I spend my whole day cleaning?

I found the answer when I read my friend Janice's blog, whose son peed in his underwear, rinsed them, rolled them and put them on the counter. Children have a special knack for creating work for you where you least expect it. Who really starts their day thinking they are going to clean up rolled pairs of peed-in underpants from the counter?

I take one step forward and two steps back. I washed and folded and put away two loads of laundry; Molly took thirty seconds to take five puzzles and dump all of them out on the floor in one jumbled pile. I made grilled cheese and strawberry slices; Frankie dropped her orange juice glass on the floor where it sent shards spinning into the next room and stickiness climbing all my kitchen cabinets. I bathed two children; they dumped a basketful of toys in the water along with a handful of oatmeal. I started to pack up Christmas ornaments; Molly and Frankie emptied colored pencils, markers, glue sticks and watercolors all over the kitchen floor in a fantastic kaleidoscope of color and chaos. I take a minute to blog; I hear Molly pulling a stool up to the kitchen sink and the water go on.....