Feeding Frenzy.

Yesterday I spent a few minutes on the computer completing an array of tasks from the completely mundane and necessary like balancing my checkbook, to the much more fun but not so necessary... you know, like reading your blog. The laptop was, in this instance, plugged in at the desk in my bedroom.

Which left the living room and kitchen unattended for maybe half an hour.

Do you see where I'm going with this? Can you sense the danger that I was so carelessly inflicting on the sanity and sanitation of my home? When I returned to the living room, it looked as if the Armageddon of all snack foods had just wound down to an awful, painful, fatal on all sides, end. There was one common theme, I noticed, that ran through all the carnage. It was all snack food that could be obtained silently, and without assistance. Juice boxes, half drunk and toppled on their sides littered the area, a little trail of juicy drips stickying up the floor in various directions... cracker crumbs decorated the couch, and the little plastic sleeves that hold those noxiously awful popsicles that kid's love anyway... 6 of them in total (yes, that's 2 popsicles each) clung to their syrupy insides, now oozing out all over the counter in the kitchen, and the shelf of the entertainment center. There may or may not have been more damage. But for the sake of my credibility as a mother, I'm not sharing...

Seriously though, HOW long was I out of the room?! When did, "Guys, sit down and watch Olivia while I get some stuff done," turn in to, "HEY! Have a free for all in the kitchen! Eat your hearts out! And please make a colossal big mess in my living room!"

And it wasn't as if I wasn't listening... I swear they must have been little mice, creeping in to the kitchen on tiptoe, because I heard no sound that indicated any mischievous behavior. I KNOW what those sounds are. I've grown quite used to the general feeling of alarm I feel when I'm in the bathroom, or taking a shower and I hear the sound of a kitchen chair sliding across the floor. That's NEVER a good sound...

But come on guys... if the Keebler Elves are going to duel it out with Mr. Redhenbacher, at least let me prepare the room first. I could bring the tarp up from the garage and cover the furniture...

It amazes me how quickly the mess happens. I vacillate back and forth between being a stringent food czar, keeping cabinets and refrigerator under lock and key - all snacks and meals passed through a highly tuned Mommy filter... and just letting the kids eat when they want to eat, as long as those desires stay within a general amount of reason and propriety. I'm generally not one to over regulate my kid's lives, but I tell you what, they keep messing up my house in feeding frenzy free for alls...

Dry bread and water. Nothing more!!