Chaos Theory

My household isn't quite mathematical in this sense, but I believe that having Jack & other family members proves the chaos theory. Ok, in this way, I will define this: that everything in order moves toward disorder. Maybe this isn't what the scientists explored when they first came across this idea, but it occurs. And in my house.

We are waiting outside Baskin Robbins for our dear friends. Emma & Jack are clean from playing in the pool, in fresh clothes, diapers, underwear. The moment is serene. They are playing so well, chasing each other and making us laugh at the sweet noises that emerge from their mouths. The tranquility then moves toward chaos: Jack starts to spin out of control. He chases Emma, but passes her running farther and farther away from us. He is laughing like an insane person (this is a newly developed laugh that has emerged in the last few weeks). Roy runs to get him. Jack returns, but this time to turn around and run farther, leaving one of his shoes. Roy once again retrieves the rogue child. Jack disappears again, but this time, when he reappears his face is covered in what appears to be dirt. A look closer, Jack has come upon an abandoned chocolate ice cream cone, melting on the pavement. He has sampled it. Chaos...

No matter how I attempt to keep the order of our home, no matter how many times I pick up the toys and stow them in their proper place, I am finding over time, it really is pointless. My home is freshly mopped one moment, and covered in grime the next, from the last meal Jack has thrown at his unwilling target when he decides he is done eating.

After dinner, Roy ventured outside in the backyard with the blessings and the dog. He bathed Cooper, while the kids played in the pool. I came out to check things out, when Cooper decided he was done. Into the house he ran. Into my clean home, slipping & sliding, dripping & shaking in every part of my newly cleaned kitchen, family room & hallway. Chaos...

This chaos drives me crazy, but crazy as it sounds, it keeps me sane. According to common sense, I should be mentally unbalanced. Having three children under the age of four (two that are mistaken for twins) & a young pup is insane. But the chaos that is created in these days keeps me smiling, laughing; the chaos keeps me sane. If I could freeze these moments, capture them in my camera, to relive I would: I would relive the way Jack fell head first into the pool, attempting a sweet trick. Or how he holds his entire hand up in the air, attempting to hold up just his pointed & pinky fingers, while he shouts, Rock On! If I could only relive again & again how Emma said, Tully's da bomb; You go girl!, as she watched the small cat fight back while Cooper chased her. Or how she screams at the top of her lungs, begging me just to keep tickling her, while chasing her. Or how Jack verbalizes his independence, screaming a deep No! one minute, and then planting soft sweet kisses onto my mouth the next. If I could bottle up the smell of Will's being, that is so concentrated as he sleeps, but keeps me awake in the middle of the night while he nurses. Or how Will smiles his goofy grin and kicks his legs in excitement when he catches my eye... I will take the chaos.