Of Vegetables and Kids

Our commissary has two sizes of bags in the produce section.  There are the normal, kinda flimsy bags that most grocery stores have, and there are some really big, strong bags that can be used for the bigger vegetables, like heads of lettuce, piles of spinach, bundles of kale or chard...even stalks of rhubarb can stand up in those bags!  For most of our produce, we use the little, flimsy bags, but I like the big ones for things like bananas, corn, and broccoli.  

Today, while I was picking through the asparagus, I let my two oldest daughters fill one of those small bags half-way full of green beans.  They did a good job, so when they asked if they could get some broccoli too, I said yes.  While I waited, I busied myself with checking my list, making sure Mr. Adorable was sitting down, and preventing my 5-year-old from squishing the grapes.  

Until I heard the older couple next to me chuckling.  "You don't see that every day!", the man said to his wife.

THAT would be my two very busy 7-year-old daughters, filling one of those really, big, strong plastic produce bags to the very top with broccoli.  I made them put half of it back.  "But, Mom!", they protested loudly, "We LIKE broccoli!"

The older couple laughed out loud.  

I guess they couldn't help it.  :)

Tips for Preparing to Go Grocery Shopping

Today's tips are brought to you by the need to go buy some groceries.

Before backing the van out of the garage, you should:

*Make sure daughter #1 has a right shoe and a left shoe, not two matching right shoes.

*Make sure daughters #1 and #2 are in their assigned seats so there is no fighting.

*Make sure son is in his own carseat, not sitting, grinning, in daughter #2's seat.

*Go back inside and grab the diaper bag.  

*Check to be sure you have your wallet and military ID.

*Go back inside to fill and hand out water bottles to all four kids...it's gonna be a hot day.

*Go back inside and get one for yourself, too.

*Go back inside again to get the cold bags, re-usable grocery bags, and milk crate full of empty bottles.

*Make sure daughter#3 has her seatbelt on properly, and while you're at it,

*please be sure to notice that she is also wearing two right shoes, and

*go back inside to find the matching left shoe.

*Grab your car keys on the way back out, and since you are going grocery shopping, you should also

*go back inside and get your grocery list off the fridge.

*Get in the van.  Do not look at the clock to see how long that took you!

Have fun grocery shopping!

My Pet Cobweb

I keep a cobweb in the corner of my shower.  It's been there for months, and I have no immediate plans to get rid of it.  It's my pet cobweb.

I like looking at it.

It reminds me that no matter how clean the rest of my house looks, there is always something that needs cleaned.  There will always be a small pile of dust in a corner somewhere, the carpet will always need to be vacuumed around the edges in one room or another, and the baseboards and walls will always need to have the scuff marks wiped off.  Again.  

The cobweb in my shower gives me permission to NOT have a perfectly clean house.  You can expect to have clean towels and mostly-clean floors if you come to visit, but I would fail a white glove test.  My cobweb helps me to be okay with that.

The cobweb I keep in my shower also reminds me that there are cobwebs of another kind hidden in the shadowy corners of my soul.  No matter how clean my life looks from the human perspective, God and I both know about those spiritual cobwebs.  Sometimes those cobwebs are small, fairly simple to dust away, and their removal doesn't bother me much.  Other times I find that they are much larger and stickier than I thought they were, and they grow faster than regular cobwebs, too.

Sometimes simply naming those spiritual cobwebs helps to clear them out:  fear, gossip, laziness, selfishness, pride.  Once I am aware that they are back, they are easier to dust away while they are small, but I don't always see them return.  That's why I keep my pet cobweb in the corner of my shower, a visual reminder that I need to check the corners of my heart for spiritual cobwebs.  Because nobody likes those kinds of cobwebs.  

Not even me.