My house is ludicrously chaotic. In fact, when we are trying to get all the troops out the door, Seth always irritably shouts “Come on, Team Chaos! Let’s go!” And when we arrive somewhere he says “Team Chaos is here!”
Kiddo and Miss Kicks have no volume control. Both are often at Max Volume at the same time. And their Max Volume makes my ears ring – no exaggeration. They both get in loud disagreements and loud laughing fits that make the figurative chandeliers tinkle.
Someone’s always hungry and rummaging in the pantry or fridge.
Someone is often on a hoverboard. In the house.
Tiny usually is strewing toys behind her with abandoned glee, and often leaving shoes behind in the middle of the floor as trip hazards. The person on the hoverboard is often scolding Tiny for the trip hazards.
Often either the TV is on or music is playing.
At least one dog is underfoot perpetually, sometimes the neighbor’s dog joins the fray, and there are five cats milling about, twining between ankles and asking to go in and out and in and out. They got so sick of waiting for someone to let them in and out that one of them (affectionately nicknamed Le Shittén) ripped her own cat door through the screen door that they all happily now use.
There are piles of paper on the desk and counter. Someone has usually left a dish or a toy on the dining room table. Someone (eh hem) has usually left her acrylic nail supplies on the unused end of the dining room table. There are construction materials strewn about the place for the upstairs bathroom project.
And there’s usually a dog squeaky toy or two on the floor.
Plus fur. Always fur.
I have been diagnosed with ADHD. I strongly suspect Kiddo has it too, and Seth as well. And kids who have experienced a lot of trauma typically have behaviors that look a lot like ADHD even if they don’t actually have it. Plus, kids (and adults) who have lived through a lot of chaos often recreate a chaotic environment around themselves because it’s what’s familiar and comfortable for them. So Kiddo and Miss Kicks both tend to wallow in chaos like pigs in mud – it’s homey to them. Miss Kicks and Kiddo both leave clothing behind them on their bedroom floors to the point where they have to wade through it all. We make Kiddo pick up her clothing since she shares her room with Tiny but Miss Kicks is free to have her room however she likes it so long as it’s not attracting ants or rodents. I’m just as bad – half my closet is piled on top of my dresser or in front of the closet doors.
In short, poor Seth is fighting a chronic battle against the mess the rest of us leave behind, and we’re all loud as hell and moving in 15 directions at once. Always.
Last night my sister and 16 year old niece came over to babysit the little two so Seth and I could go out for a (*gasp*) date. We had a lovely delicious dinner filled with adult conversation and no interruptions from anyone needing anything. It was bliss!
Meanwhile, my sister – who has one exceptionally well behaved child and one well groomed purebred cardigan corgi and an always perfectly neat home – got to swim in my sea of chaos for a few hours. Each of my kids gave her a run for her money, requesting different variations of the meal she made (🙄) and generally being loud and everywhere at once like usual. She managed to get everyone fed and keep them all alive, but says she only managed to do so because she had the help of my niece.
My sister’s eyes were bugging out of her head by the time Seth and I got home. I find it utterly hilarious that my beautiful Team Chaos unnerved her so much. Perfect meals with matching china and organized neatness everywhere? Not in my house! Ha!
The funny thing is, I love all of it. I joke that I kind of have a thing for chaos, and it’s true. Seth and I were just saying yesterday that if it weren’t for the fact that we have no more bedrooms and I have health issues that limit the amount of energy I have available, we’d go for one more. Alas, not right now. But maybe some day!
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