Once you have children, you find yourself doing things your childless friends will never understand. If I stood back and thought about many things that happen on a daily basis, I might think I have lost my marbles. But my sanity is too important for me to not just go with the flow sometimes. 

When my son soaks the driveway with a hose, smashes every stick of sidewalk chalk into a gooey, painty mess and then lays in it until he is completely pink, it's OK -- I can use that window of time to call my sister. When my little one is busy digging up the flower bed with his new bulldozer, it means I have just scored some bill-paying time. Should you hear me squeal with delight when the landscapers come with some machinery, it's because I know my son won't move his elbows from the windowsill for a while, and I have a ton of laundry to fold. If you drive by and see my child using safety scissors to prune an unruly bush, know that I'm not tortured -- I'm using those few extra minutes to clean out a month's worth of chicken nuggets from under my car seats. I have even been known to cover the floor with butcher paper and let my kids go hog-wild with markers and crayons, so I can cut up enough vegetables for dinner that we will each actually have a full serving on our plates. It's win-win! 

You have to give in sometimes. Perfection is overrated! My motto is, "If I get something done and no one is screaming, then it's a good thing."