What light through yonder (dirty) window breaks?

It is the late afternoon sun, casting  golden rays of warmth across my living room

while emphasizing dust & dog hair on black painted furniture

and dirty little fingerprints on the television. *

 

Now if you'll excuse me, I think I need to find a dust cloth and some windex. 

*(If you are 21 months old, you can not simply sit and watch Barney, you must also touch Barney.)

Comments

[domesticali]

In the same way that every cloud has a silver lining, so every sunbeam has a grubby smear (in my house at any rate!)

Glad to see I am not alone! Thank you for the smile of recognition.

[Joni]

I was just thinking yesterday that I wasted our January thaw without washing our windows! DRAT! It's now down below freezing so it's useless to take the windex outside now! I love the reason your television screen has teeny tiny handprints on it!
XOXO
Joni

[Coleen]

My kids went to stay with their Grandma back in September, and she left the little hand prints on the TV up there until this week... she liked seeing them since we don't live close.

[Mary]

At least you have an excuse for handprints...my youngest is 27 (and not months)...and doesn't even live at home. I use to think housework could wait until the children grew up, but obviously I don't have that excuse anymore...I need a new one.

[Autum]

Oh Ali, you are not alone!

[Sarah]

I am sorry to say that 5 you also must touch the television. The "so expensive we are not allowed to breathe on it brand new flat screen" television. Ha.

[Sabrina]

Great post. Made me laugh and I feel your pain. My 2 year old manages to get prints on everything (including the expensive "daddy" TV), my 6 year old blows on the window of the front door while waiting for the carpool and writes his name in the condensation. Oh and our new furry puppy is always licking the patio door or making a lovely finger painting display on it with her mop like dirty paws. Hee hee. And dust? Don't get me started! Have a wonderful evening!

[cindy]

We were living in Dallas when Barney first made his debut. And he was local only. I hated him then, didn't even know he was still around. Yikes. I can't say the word 'Imagination' without hearing his dorky voice....

At least you had some sun today...we've had nary a sighting in 7 days. I'm withering away!

[Jennifer Tyler]

You have just made me the happiest woman in the world. I travel around blogworld seeing all of these beautifully kept homes and then I look up from my computer screen. Dog hair? I swear my dogs are having puppies and then I realize it's just a fur ball. Fingerprints? Yesterday I discovered a whole greasy hand print on one of my walls. Thank you for sharing your imperfections, it makes you absolutely perfect in my mind!

[Rachael]

and my 6 year old still touches the tv, the windows and the mirror! Rachaelxo

[Autum]

Oh my, Barney... Hes not really still around, but thanks to DVD and VHS, he lives on. And on.  Bayleigh has  never shown any interest in TV. Not a bad thing, but 30 minutes of distraction, even if it comes in the form of a big purple dinosaur is sometimes a blessing. Barney is the only cartoon she will watch for more than 2 minutes, and boy does she love Barney.
I hope you get some sun soon!! Im so ready for spring.

[Autum]

Jennifer, Ive given up on ever having clean windows. I used to think when my kids get older, and stop touching everything- then I can have clean windows and doors... then my nieces and nephew came along. Then I thought when they get older, but then I realized the dogs would continue to stick their noses to the glass, regardless of age. Now, I have a grand daughter. Ive accepted it and it makes life easier : )

[Autum]

so does my 20 year old ; )

[Autum]

 
My puppies dont put their paws on the glass, but they sure do like to stick their noses to the windows. Clean, clear glass is overrated, dont you think?

[Autum]

The more I tell Bayleigh not to touch the TV, the more determined she is to do it ; )

[Autum]

My youngest is 20 and in the Marine Corp and is stationed close enough to come home most weekends. I so looked forward to the new habits he was going to learn as a Marine.  Ha! He cant wait to get home so he can let his inner slob out.

[Autum]

Thats precious!!

[Autum]

Hi Joni!
I hope you get another thaw soon, but not so you can clean windows : ) They will surely wait till spring.

[Jess]

We just moved into a new house that has mirrored closet doors in all 3 bedrooms and I am seriously thinking about taking them out. I was just telling Dh Sunday that I was going to get rich by developing something that you could apply to glass to repel fingerprints. LOL

[Wen]

I finally found a vrafting blog mama / grandma who does not have a perfect clean household... Everytime, I go blog reading and see the nice neat living spaces, I feel extra ultra guilty that my house has a covering of dust on almost every surface. :)

[Autum]

Dont feel guilty! I suspect a lot more blog mamas have dusty furniture and fingerprints on their tvs- they are just very good at cropping the mess out of the pictures.
Dont let the creative editing fool you. There just arent enough hours in the day to cook, take care of children and husbands, walk the dog, pay the bills, decorate the perfectly cleaned  house AND photograph and blog about it too.  

[Autum]

Im waiting to figure out a use for dust and dog hair, thats my get rich plan : )

[Valerie]

Yes, I've been cleaning too lately. Never my fave job, but after Christmas - when the decorations and cards come down - everything looks shabby and winter-grubby. It's a good opportunity to de-clutter as well though. I'm constantly amazed how much 'stuff' I've got. Oh, to have one of those minimal, pristine clean homes !!

[Autum]

Valerie, where on earth does all the stuff come from? I declutter and somehow it keeps creeping back in.
Yes, a minimal pristine home- its just not in the cards for me. Between kids, dogs, the husband and grand daughter, minimal and pristine just isnt happening.
Spring will be here before too long and everything will look different in the bright happy light of spring. Something to look forward to : )

[Tanya Hein]

Thanks for posting. I was beginning to wonder if my children have some sort of over-greasy-skin-on-their-fingers condition. Everything under four feet high in our home is covered in smears and prints and goober. Wouldn't trade it for all the prim and pretty childless homes in the world.