"the dishes will always be there..."

the after-effects of "spiderman ice cream" on the tongue (i was also informed this morning that it makes "green poop")

if you're on facebook at all, i'm sure you've seen a ton of those little, witty quotes typeset in boxes, sometimes with the little vintage illustrations? yeah? well, there are a specific bunch that always drive me bonkers, the ones that have sayings to the tune of "the dirty dishes will still be there, your kids won't." arrgh. 
as if i don't have enough guilt while working from home (and letting my kids watch a few too many episodes of power rangers), or for taking the time to peruse facebook (and instagram, oh instragram how i adore thee) while the kids are scarfing down their meals, now i have to feel guilty for cleaning? that's just...crazy talk. seriously.
it's not like i'm little miss clean-y pants with my spotless house that i don't let anyone make messes in. on the contrary, the kids are constantly eating "meals on the go" as they run around the house spreading crumbs like a plague. but once they're done (okay, maybe a few days later, that's AFTER), yeah, i totally go around with my broom and dustpan and do my best to, at the very least, keep the house from being a total shambles (also, we have an ant problem, and double also, i hate the feeling of dirt stuck to the bottoms of my feet).
so to those who post all that kind of nonsense about my kids are growing up and i should be enjoying them, thanks for the reminder to appreciate my kids, BUT (and this is a big, fat but) i think my kids are learning at least two valuable lessons from seeing me tiding up around the house (yes, despite the look of it, i actually do clean):
1) everyone has responsibilities. when i'm doing dishes (or laundry, or sweeping the floor, or putting things away), i hope my kids don't see that as "gee, mom really likes to clean. look at her go!", but that people (grown-ups and kids) have to do a lot of things that aren't fun, but that need doing. laundry is not my greatest joy, vacuuming toast crumbs out of the living room rug is not my definition of a good time, but like a lot of things in life, they need to be done. and though it looks like a small thing (though you should have SEEN the dirt that came out of the rug by the side door, it was impressive, people), if all these small, boring things didn't get done, the house would soon be a much less pleasant place to wreak havoc.
2) sometimes we need to be patient. i totally want my kids to know that they're important to me, much more important than things (like the walls they keep trying to put holes in), but to a certain degree they need to realize that life isn't all about them. sometimes i need them to color by themselves or push the pause button on the thirteenth diatribe about power rangers ("but not jungle fury power rangers, but the other kind, and i'm the gold one and my friend is the green one..."), because sometimes, just sometimes, other things need to be my priority. 
and this is where those those sayings about "the dishes will always be there..." really get to me, because, yes, the dishes WILL be there, and heck if i'm going to take space out of the two hours after the kids go to bed that i get for "my own" to do that kind of stuff. no way. most of the time that's dedicated to working on freelance anyway, so it's already taken, yo. so thanks for the guilt. thanks for the reminders about childhood is fleeting (yes, i know that, and that's why i spend an extra ten minutes after lu falls asleep to hold her and give her a few kisses on her "only little once" cheeks), but i can't always let the passage of time be like some rabid beast chasing me into stressing that i'm missing every precious moment. not all moments are precious, or at least, not all moments need to be witnessed and appreciated by me to be precious. stop trying to make me crazy. unless you haven't noticed, i'm already there.