Dominica Moment: The Good Fairy!

As a mom, I have those moments when my house feels like a tornado has hit and all I want is to be able to do is just go to bed and wake up to find the Good Fairy has come. I feel like my days here are a lot more exhausting because everything takes just a little bit longer to do without a car and the convenience of a few other things. It also means there is a lot more sweat involved. I find myself tired and exhausted from running (literally) with the kids in the stroller back and forth. Carrying my groceries while pushing the boys in the stroller up hill both ways! And cooking and cleaning takes a lot more ambition because of the sweat that goes into washing dishes by hand, kneading bread or scouring floors on a ridiculous hot day. I swear some days I feel like I have been working all day only to find Jack or Crew in the other room getting into something they shouldn't or defacing public property! Recently, some fun things I have found:

• The kiddos (yes that is plural) coloring on anything imaginable - from markers on sheets to the coloring the picture of Jesus (it wasn't a coloring page). And I can usually tell where Crew has been because he signs his name to every little piece of artwork- he has made some great wallpaper artwork. And Jack is just crazy. He colors all over everything. I swear I have the markers under lock and key only to turn and look at Jack coloring on something or someone. That kid has a secret stash I swear. I have found his pieces of artwork on the floor, the wall, the bed, Crew's sheets, the cabinets, Crew's school papers (many tears have been shed from Jack ruining something of Crew's) etc...
• The classic roll of toilet paper unrolled all over the bathroom floor (Jack)
• Dumping a full bag of pretzels onto my freshly mopped floor (Jack)
• Jack dumping his glass of milk on the floor just to see what would happen to the milk if he turned the cup over
• Jack rubbing my brand new chapstick (that I paid a pretty penny for) all over the couch- seriously, the whole thing. Dug it out with his finger and fingerpainted chapstick on our fabric couch!
• Going into the other room for a second only to hear shattering glass all over my floor. For those of you wondering, glass mixing bowls DON'T bounce like balls! 

I feel like this list could go on forever. These sweet little moments, drive me absolutely crazy at times. And sometimes I just have to laugh when stuff like this happens- because it really is funny how creative and crazy these boys are. But there are definitely times when I just want a magic wand to wave to be able to keep up with everything.

There are some aspects of living in Dominica that have been very different from my life before coming here. Different could be classified as *Amazing, *Difficult, *Just Plain Crazy, or *Ooh So Nice! Every Thursday I get a visit from a lady I like to call The Good Fairy! A sweet lady comes to clean my house and let me tell you it is ooh so nice! It is sort of a packaged deal that comes with our apartment. Most places here have maids that come in and clean weekly. Seriously, it is wonderful! Now, I have to admit that it was a little wierd at first to let someone else clean my house. Some things I like cleaned a certain way (can thank my momma for that one)! Yet, there are moments when I simply just relish in the fact that even though I might be a little OCD about the way somebody else is cleaning something... I am grateful my floors are getting mopped and my oven is getting scoured and I am not the one swealtering in the house to do it!

There have been so many times when I have had to leave some breakfast dishes in the sink because we were needed to rush out the door and I have come home to find the dishes are done and my floors sparking. It really feels like The Good Fairy has come!

Today, was that blissful day when I got a break from sweeping and scouring my floors! I had kept Crew home from school the last two days because he had a cough. We headed to the school after lunch to pick up his school work (he was so worried about missing school and missing out on the school work- he's so funny). When we came back home, the cleaning lady was still working on our place. The boys needed naps and she had already done the bedroom, so we all headed to the bedroom. Being in a one-bedroom place there wasn't really anywhere else for me to go. I usually like to be gone when she is there cleaning. I don't want to make her feel uncomfortable if I am just sitting there watching her clean. Plus, I have a hard time just sitting on the couch watching somebody else clean my house- it's just wierd. She likes to do her thing. So really the only option was for me to stay in the bedroom with the boys. I was laying on the bed, all snuggled up with my two loves all the while The Good Fairy was out scouring my kitchen and floors. It was a sweet moment indeed! It almost just didn't seem real. And it really is sort of embarassing to admit that I actually fell asleep while she was there. But when I woke up, I found the dishes done and the floors swept and mopped. The Good Fairy is real! It is a much needed break once a week for a tired momma! Oh I absolutely love Thursdays! When will I ever get to live like this again? Maybe I can take her with me when we leave?