Morning Sundry

This morning after dropping off the kids at school I returned home to find the following scattered in various places on the kitchen island:

• 1 copy of A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban
• 1 copy of Diana: Her Life and Legacy by Anthony Holden
• 1 copy of Snook Alone by Marilyn Nelson
• 1 copy of Paper Airplanes: Models to Build and Fly by Emery J. Kelly
• 2 paper airplanes
• 6 ponytail elastics, assorted colors
• 1 sillyband, rainbow color in the shape of an apple
• 1 green plastic strawberry basket filled with tiny slips of paper, a small plastic skeleton, a one dollar bill, a five dollar bill and a spider ring
• 1 pair of mini soccer ball earrings
• 1 spelling test of 25 words with two wrong (substantial and frivolous)
• Lots and lots of eraser dust

In the front hallway I found the following:

• 1 empty Gatorade bottle (lemon-lime flavor)
• 1 shin guard missing it's pair
• 2 pairs of flip flops
• 1 string cheese wrapper
• 3 ponytail elastics, black
• 2 pairs of socks, (1 yellow, 1 rainbow stripes)

In the girl's bathroom I found the following:

• 3 hairbrushes
• 1 lipgloss, Burt's Bee's, pale pink, top missing
• 2 drops of lavender scented lotion
• 1 pair of earrings, peace sign-shaped
• 1 lone earring, rubber duck shaped
• 1 pair of earrings, heart shaped, sparkly
• 1 necklace, initial "A"
• 4 ponytail elastics, assorted colors

In my son's bathroom I found the following:

• Lots and lots of toothpaste smeared in the sink
• 8 dixie cups filled with water sitting on the closed toilet (???)

There are days when I return home to this and I am super annoyed. I harumph my way around the house returning things to their proper place. But today I felt all sentimental and tender about these objects. They are the odds and ends of girlhood and boyhood, the talismans of mothering. They are the good stuff.