I like having a clean house. It makes me happy. It makes me feel like my life is wonderful and orderly. When my house is clean, I feel like I can conquer the world.

The problem is, I have kids.

Kids are terribly messy.

No matter what I do, keeping the house clean is like building a beautiful sand castle, right before the tide comes in. As the waves wash the beautiful castle away, I am sad and frustrated. Something that I worked on is gone.

Of course, the next day, I come back to the beach to build another beautiful castle, sweeping, vacuuming and straightening the day away. And once again, I stand and admire the castle, only to have it washed away, when my kids get home from school.

I guess life isn’t about building awesome sand castles, or having a clean house.

Maybe it’s about just being at the beach and playing in the waves.

I’m sure I’ll have a really clean house when my kids all grow up, but then I’ll probably miss all of the noise and the chaos that is my family.