Knock knock

I saw on the news today that the police in the big city nearest to us are advising that if someone knocks on your door in the middle of the day you should answer it. Or at the very least you should let the people knocking know that someone is home. Apparently burglars are knocking on doors and if no one answers they are breaking in and helping themselves to people's stuff.

My reaction? I looked around at my house, at all the stuff they might take. If they could look inside for a quick visual, what would they think was of value?

And that's when I realized that if a burglar looked through my front windows into my house they would likely move on. Not because I don't have anything of value, but because it's such a mess most days that it looks like someone has already tossed the place, the valuables long gone.

It's funny because each of my kids has their own room and they have a pretty good sized playroom too. But they play all over the house. And since I am all for imaginative play as opposed to being parked in front of the TV, I rarely stop them from making things like couch cushion forts or machines out of Diet Coke cans or playing grocery store in the pantry.

And so my house is trashed. We (mostly I) pick it all up at the end of the day (most days, anyway) so the next day is a fresh start.

You know what? I might have a laptop, a big TV, and various other stuff someone might want to burgle, but the best thing of all, playing with my kids,watching them use their imaginations, playing together, enjoying each other is the most valuable thing in this house. And I'm happy to live with the mess.