I'm listening to Harry Potter again. He's my cleaning buddy for a month or two during every year. What can I say? He's magical! With him, our kitchen stays pretty clean for awhile. But that's beside the point.

I was thinking about the two houses in Harry Potter. There's #4 Privat Drive. A clean home with a skinny mom. The kids either get everything they want or nothing they want. Then there's the Burrow. A plump mom, a dirty house and lot of yelling and fighting. Where the kids get somethings they want, but mostly not in the condition they dream of. Which kind of a house do I want? What kind of a mom do I want to be? Without a doubt I dream of being the plump mom who loves all who walk in my home offering them food and stay. I want a home that is loud and crazy, where my kids fight with each other all day long only to stand up for each other in front of others. After all, I'm the only who can beat up my sister. I want my kids to get gifts but also to learn that we fix it up, wear it out, make it do or do without. I want to be like the Weasleys', or my real world example, my mom and the house I grew up in.

But the thing is, in the middle of the yelling and chaos, I don't want it. I want to be skinny, have a perfectly clean home, kids who are well behaved and quiet. So I guess the trick (no pun intended) is to see the big picture and let them be kids. Let them form bonds over potions of toilet paper and tooth paste in the bathroom sink (true story), let them fight and make up, let them run around like a bunch of banshees, and remember it's all for a home of love. So much easier said than done.

Then again, maybe I'm just making excuses to not get up and work on the mess that sits before me :D