OCD or something

The red head in our family has started to develop some interesting and humorous habits of late. They're hilarious and I'm constantly laughing, to be sure, but yet there is a part of me that is slightly alarmed.

While trotting through Costco last week, Madigan noticed a napkin lying on the floor where it clearly shouldn't have been. I saw his eye latch onto the out-of-place item and willed him not to care, but he immediately said, "Uh Oh" and repeated the phrase feverishly until I finally stopped, retraced my steps and picked up the nasty item from it's temporary residence on the floor. Nothing else would appease his sense of what should be.

Our next stop in the day was the Co-op where we encountered a clump of mud that had fallen off of someone's boot, no doubt. Unfortunately, it had fallen right into our line of sight in the middle of the aisle and it was, of course, our responsibility to make sure it was removed and the farm store restored to it's natural state of cleanliness.

I have repeatedly discovered Madigan wiping down the cabinets with a rag from his drawer of kitchen goodies, sweeping the floor with his man-broom, and vacuuming the rugs with his popper. However, he's never been particularly fastidious about picking up his toys, until last night. Daddy turned on the dance music and reached for Madigan, only to discover that the boy was frantically picking up everything out of place in the living room, ensuring sufficient room to dance without incident (i.e. stumbling over something in the way). By the time he had the room in order (it was spotless when he was done!) the dance song was half way through. I was hit with the grave realization that I have done that very same thing so many times in my life... missed out on the full blessing I am given because I'm too bogged down in the small details of life and getting it "just right". How many times have I spent less quality time with my husband or boys because I'm so busy keeping my house and material possessions in order? Yikes.

So, tonight, I'm going to help Madigan enjoy his Daddy time to the fullest by "pre-cleaning" the living room for him, at least well enough that he hopefully won't be distracted by the disorder.