Notes For Parents Going Back to School

How to know that you've been paying too much attention to homework and not enough to your children:
1. The kitchen floor and table are covered with Apple flavored cereal.
2. There is a rather large stuffed moose hanging from the doorknob wearing a crown, feather boa and carrying a gun.
3. Every now and then a little whiskered nose protrudes from beneath the couch to retrieve said cereal.
4. The house smells strangely of soap and toothpaste; the result of a toothpaste explosion and the subsequent attempt to clean up the mess.
5. My bathtub is full of Legos.
6. There is a construction paper trail of irregular black shapes leading to Nathan's bedroom.
7. The a/c is set to frigid while at least 2 windows are open to let in the beautiful 108 degree Arizona day.
8. There is a strange green striped alien on tv is singing an obnoxiously addictive song about a party in his tummy. Yummy.
9. All toy boxes are empty.
10. The laundry hamper has been turned into a fortress to be defended by the hurling of little plastic army men that now litter the hallway.
11. A corral for numerous Littlest Pet Shop animals has been made out of Jenga blocks in the cereal littered kitchen floor.
12. A Taylor Swift song is on repeat in the girl's room at a volume roughly equal that of a sonic boom.
13. Displayed on the foot of my bed is a large saucepan filled with a rabbit. The sign explains: Rabbit Stew.
14. There is much laughter, squealing and even more omnious, strange extended periods of silence...
These interesting episodes each greeted me today as I left my computer and went to put the kids to bed. Oh, and, my favorite, a plush snake suspended over the toilet seat in an attempt to scare Daddy. I must quit pushing my homework to the last minute!! :)