Behind Closed Doors

I am the type of person who loves to have a routine. Get up in the morning at a certain time, do my same things, have the house in order by a certain time etc. etc. I also am a firm believer in all play and no work makes Jack a lazy boy.

On the flip side I have no qualms to break out of routine if need requires or I simply feel like doing something different, and I also believe all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. So we try to have a healthy balanced life.

Yesterday was one of the throw routine to the wind type of days. It was raining and I slept an extra sweet thirty minutes, after breakfast we piled the dishes on the sink while I started the kiddos on some fun projects that were waiting on a day like this. I found some good videos on You Tube that had instructions on how to make arrow heads. Our oldest son has been collecting special rocks for this purpose. Everybody watched the video.

Then I had the kiddos stack all our books and toys into the living room with plans to reorganize all of them. The reorganizing fever caught some of us and the kitchen cupboards mysteriously emptied themselves and things were being placed back into the cupboards neatly. The kiddos went into overdrive and emptied all the contents of their dressers on the floor in their rooms and started pawing through their many "treasures." The happy sounds of kiddos thus occupied were filling the house when my phone rang.

I answered it. It was from a fellow homeschooling Mom whom I haven't seen in almost a year. She is in the area and wondered how to get to our house, that she would like to drop by for an hour or so.

I gave her the directions and then called the kiddos and gave them the news. We all looked at each other kind of helplessly. The house hasn't been in such a mess in....... well...... never. I told them to just close the doors to their rooms and then help me transport everything in the kitchen and living room into my bedroom. There was a lot of frantic scurrying, even the dirty breakfast dishes found a place to hide (in the tub in the master bathroom) I locked the bedroom door. Checked every ones faces and wiped down the sink just as they pulled in the driveway.

I welcomed them in. The kiddos decided invite their kids to play in the barn rather than risking opening the doors to their rooms for any reason.

Mrs. T oohed and ahhhed over the view we have from our side of the mountain. And then turned to me and said "Your house is almost as beautiful as the view. I just love seeing other peoples houses" and proceeded to give herself a self guided tour of our house. She exclaimed over our bathroom while I was holding my breath and hoping there are no towels on the floor and the toilet is clean. And then horrors, she went into the kiddos rooms. (Note to self. Buy locking door knobs on next trip to town)

I was sitting calmly on my chair in the living room by the fireplace the whole while she was exploring my home. I could hear her approach our bedroom and rattle the doorknob. I breathed a sigh of relief when it didn't open, she came back to the living room and asked "Why is that door locked?" I smiled at her and said sweetly. "For this very reason." She had enough courtesy to blush a little.

Was I wrong to have the door locked? Is it the accepted thing to give self guided tours of other peoples houses? I never even dreamed to do that, but maybe I'm missing something. It really would be fun to see Mrs. T's dirty corners.