Avast!

Last night Finn said, "Why don't you ever play with us?" Now, this might normally cause any mother to immediately reevaluate her life, fall on her knees and hug her sweet, neglected child. But coming on the heels of a water gun fight in the front yard, I knew this claim was ill-founded. But in his little 5-year-old defense, at the time Finn asked, I was checking an email. I do work some from home. So Finn is no stranger to me working. And when he gets very tired or bored, he likes to make me feel like I am not addressing his needs (usually in the form of a fruit snack plea, or a jab at my neglectfulness). He also calls housework (laundry, dishes, mopping) working, and I have explained on numerous occasions that if I didn't "work" a little bit every day, we would all be naked because of the piles of accumulated dirty laundry (to which Maya smiles and claps). The day ended with prayers, books, loud off key song-singing on my part, kisses, and then sleep. They had my full attention. I am a stay-at-home-mom for goodness' sake.

Then I woke up this morning to Wes asking me when I was going to start my day. (Sometimes when Wes is home in the morning and has fixed breakfast for the kids—which is every time that Wes is home in the morning—I like to stay in bed with the covers up to my chin and my laptop on my chest, and I get emailing out of the way, see what's new on Minted, maybe visit Nie Nie, and check out the new Mormon Message. Sue me.) So when I had the second prod at 8:15am ("Are you at least going to take a shower?"), I thought I had better pull out some mom greatness, lest this family starts to think I am being *gasp* lazy. Me? Lazy? In the summer? Nah.

Here's what we did today: PIRATE FORT!!! (OK, it's really a normal fort, but they are WAY more excited when the word "pirate" is involved. Finn and Maya share a tiny room—or "weeny," as Finn would say—and I knew it would be a challenge. But I think I did a bang up job.

I managed to fit a teepee in there. Go me:

(a teepee always passes in pirate play because of Peter Pan)

Maya the lookout:

Train table turned stowaway nook:

View from under the sails:

And, no, I still haven't showered today.