domestication

A few moments ago I received this photo via e-mail from a friend of mine that had come over this past weekend. I fell in love with instantly! On this particular day, our friend had come over to talk photography with Amy. I spent most of the time removing the old kitchen faucet and installing a new one. Minutes before this photo a string of curse words effortlessly erupted from my face as I realized that I had not turned the water off, I had only turned the COLD water off.

Now, it is worth mentioning that our house is never this dirty. It is even more worth mentioning that Amy is a cleaning fanatic. To Amy, our house is filthy, to the world it sparkles. A pair of shoes in the living room can make her feel slightly insane, a dish in the sink can throw her over the edge. I have a routine with the kids on cleaning day...

"mommies going to clean, what are you going to do?"
them:"hide"
me:"yes, and if she asks for help, what are you going to do?"
them: "help"
me:"if she does not ask for help, what are you going to do?"
them:"hide"

now, in all fairness, I taught them this response. I find it funny. The kids and I laugh all day, Amy does not. Another note of fairness, she never forces us to clean, she is not irrational, she just requires sanitization.

back to the photo
I was struck by how filthy our house looks, how submissive Amy looks, how stern Kahlo looks. Its a stark contrast between our usually sparkling house, between Amy's fiercely independent personality, between our smiling baby.

I was shocked, that somehow I relate to this photo... this is not who we are, but it is who we are at times...