From the Queen to the Princesses #3

My Darling Princesses,

I really hope I have not passed on to you my lack of being a party mom, but if I have, I am sorry!! My advice has nothing to do with planning a party cause I know nothing about that. I am not good at it, and I really have no desire to be good at it. I love that you kids choose the take a friend to do something option almost every year, even on your friend party option years. My advice has to do for preparing for your house to be invaded with friends when your kids do choose the party option on their odd years. Don't worry too much about how clean the house is!! As I was thinking about doing Aidan's party today, I kind of got into a "Let's get the house totally clean" mode. You kids did an awesome job helping get the house all picked up and Aidan even got the downstairs all vacuumed. But after you went to bed, I had plans to stay up late making sure everything was spic and span. And then it hit me, "Are you crazy? 12 kids in the house will only undo everything that has been done and they won't even notice if it wasn't done in the first place!" So, to save yourself the frustration I used to face, don't worry about scrubbing the kitchen floor. It is only going to get cake dropped on it, ice cream spilled, wet shoes run across it, and water spilled. All of those are not bad things; they are good things cause it means lots of happiness is happening in your house. But if you wait until the happy party is over to clean the floors, you will save yourself a lot of anxiety!! A quick sweep works just fine. Making sure the bathrooms are wiped down but not cloroxed is just fine. Yes, the house should be picked up, but don't stress yourself out. I find the time I put in to the cake is much more enjoyable to me than the time I would have spent cleaning. And, yes, the cake is gobbled up in minutes, but you kids seem to remember the fun cakes more than if the house was spotless before guests arrived.

I really hope all this advice is not needed. I hope you are faster at learning these things than me, but just in case you inherited too much of your mother (and I am sorry), maybe this will cut a few years off your learning curve.

I love you, my darling princesses!!

Love, the Queen,
Mom