Disorganized Order

I walked up the spiral staircase to the children's playroom to find a mess.  I was frustrated.  How many times had I asked them to pick up their toys?  How many times had I meant to go check and see if my request had been carried out but I had been distracted by something/someone else?  As I scanned the room I sighed in irritation...

I tripped over Lego pieces, saw stacks of board games in the middle of the room, a half empty seltzer can was on a bookshelf... I hollered down to the kids "Hey guys!  Could you please come up to the playroom please."

As I waited for them to come up the stairs I glanced around a little more closely and saw that this mess, as I perceived it, actually had an order to it.  Each little pile had a story.

A guard trying to protect his fellow "good guy" from being further injured.

The base of the bad guys, guarded by a ferocious warrior.

A paper robot invented and built by my six year old for his four year old sister. He had asked to use tape, scissors and paper and he disappeared for a while and I forgot to ask about what he created.  in fact... I was a bit put out that I could not find the tape and scissors the following day when I needed them.

As I surveyed the creativity around me my eyes began to get teary and the anger and frustration melted away.  This was not a mess, this was imagination, fun, and creativity at it's best.  

A painted wooden truck filled with small animals that are being transported to a nearby base.

Gold pilfered from the Dragon Lord.

The children made their way upstairs and asked if everything was alright.  They scanned the room and apologized for the apple cores, the half drunk cans of seltzer water, and the crumpled paper in the corner.  "We were going to pick that up but we were distracted by our game".
"Yeah... I was looking at that, your game, that is.  It looks like fun.  Can you tell me about it?"  And they explained each base, each guy, and each creation with excitement, plentiful sound effects, and lots of pride.  

When you enter into an area that seems chaotic this week, try to look a little closer and see if it is perhaps a highly organized assortment of bases set up for the protection of all that is good.  :)

Sincerely,

Dawna