When my husband is home, I have all sorts of time for things I enjoy.

Like organization.  Color-coding.  Labeling things.

It’s a sickness, really.

Making lists and checking them twice.  Compartmentalizing everything.

My kids’ toys.  Clothing.  Arts and crafts supplies.  Papers and files and office necessities.

None of it is safe.

During his time at home, we always spend time working on re-organizing a lot of things in our lives.

One of us can play with the kids, while the other person gets down to business.  Because I’m pregnant this time, it’s even more of a time crunch.

I’ve re-done our office, our garage, my children’s bedroom, our file cabinets, and the play room.

I’m on a certified rampage.

And I’m miserable and enjoying myself all at the same time.

Last night, I sat in the newly cleaned, purged, re-organized and re-labeled office after the kids went to bed, and I breathed deeply.  I inhaled the smell that only the lack of clutter can bring.

And then I teared up.

Because I know that tomorrow, in will come the kids.

They’ll squeal with delight at the chalk and the crayons.  They’ll clamber for all the books I categorized by subject and title.  They’ll pull out the puzzles and the scissors and the paper, and, well, there goes my comfort and joy.

Most of the time, we are good at maintaining our organization.

Until life hits.

A vacation. A sick kid.  A deployment.  A new baby.

Or, you know, more than one at time.

Then things fall apart. 

The house stays clean.  We can still find most things.  But the colored pencils end up in the crayons bin, and my organizational masterpiece starts to crumble.

It’s inevitable.  It’s part of having kids.

It is also one of my least favorite part of having children.  Or a husband, who, if it’s possible, understands my “systems” even less.

So right now, we live in the cycle.  Savoring the organization and cuddling my much beloved label-maker.

Knowing that just about the time we add this newborn to the family, things will start to look a little less orderly around here.

And then, we embrace the chaos until my husband comes home again.