Pardon the mess, we're making memories here.

Many, many years ago when my boys were very young and rambunxcious my ex husband and I bought a very nice dining room table, chairs and a bench to match from Target. We got it on uber clearance and I was so happy to get it home and set it up. And yes target at one time sold nice furniture. I imagined all of the memories we would have at that table.

My vision and his vision differed greatly. I envisioned the boys sitting at the table doing homework, working on crafts with me and then there were the family dinners. He on the other hand laid down some ground rules. There would be no hot wheels cars on the table because the wheels could scratch the table. If you're going to sit at the table and do homework, make sure you're not pressing too hard with your pen or pencil because it could leave marks. And for the love of bacon do not EVER drag your dinner plate across table! OH! And PAINT! No painting unless the table is covered with plastic!

From then on, each time the boys sat at the table I had to watch them like a hawk, making sure there wouldn't be any damage to the table, for fear that the ex would be upset. Remember that for the longest time, his happiness was way more important than my own and I was silly enough to live that way. The dining room table became more of a stress to me than a happy memory.

Then, my ex and I split up and I found myself standing in the dining room staring at that table. I wanted to drag the damn thing out into the front yard and set fire to it, along with all of his things. He seemed to care about it's well being more than our own marriage at times.

Now, before you think that I'm writing this post to toss my ex under the bus, think again. There is a moral to this story. And I'm about to attempt to make up for busting him out by saying something nice about him. Hang on...................Ok. I got something. In his defense, he works hard and he never wanted anything that he used his hard earned money on to be mistreated. In his eyes, the table was being mistreated when the kids made marks on it. He wasn't trying to be an @ss. Ok. now I need to wash my mouth out with soap.

I didn't see the marks and scratches as a bad thing. This is how we differed. My kids are growing up so fast and each time they sit at the table and leave a mark, they are leaving evidence that they were there, painting, writing, drawing, eating. I need this evidence. I want those things to be the things that I hold on to. We're making memories here!!!

So this post came about because when I got up this morning the toddler wanted to sit down and paint while I had my coffee. So I set her up with the paint and her bird house that has about 20 layers of paint because she just can't get it right in her eyes. I let her paint and didn't put plastic under her work area. And as you can see, it was messy.

When she was done, I looked at her progress and the first thing that came to mind was, wow the ex would lose his mind if he saw that and for a split second I felt like I should hurry to clean it up but in the end, I left it. Because, it isn't hurting anyone and I am the master of this table now! :)

So the moral of the story..... Your kids will make a mess because they are kids. You can either freak out about it or take it in stride. I suggest you save yourself some stress and look at the bright side...... At least you have kids to make these memories! Imagine life with out them! I can live without a pristine table! Not without happy kids!