The Real Lesson From Mopping

So the other day I got mopping and cleaning and just couldn't seem to stop.  I ended up putting a few coats of finish on the kitchen floor--a process that usually takes about four grueling hours, which includes application and drying time between coats.  I got interrupted numerous times, which I expected, so the whole ordeal lasted a day and a half.  Sophie the dog seemed to understand why I didn't want her so much as looking at that floor, let alone tromping across it.  That floor was so clean we could have eaten off it.  I just wanted to stand there and gaze at it and picture it clean like that forever. . .

Just as I was moving the kitchen table back in place, a knock came at the door.  Three of my adorable, darling, cute young neighbors, along with their cousin, stood there, smiling at me, asking for a Popsicle, which they often do, and which I always love to comply!

I found the very last of the summer season's Popsicles in the freezer.  I sweetly explained to them as I took the wrappers off that since I had worked so hard getting the floor clean, I wanted them to eat the Popsicles outside.  They were just fine with that.

As I was replacing the chairs around the table, in walked the cute little tots with their dripping Popsicles, asking me for a napkin and telling me they had forgotten to tell me "Thank You."

Their bright little faces looked up with me with such Christlike love and innocence.  I simply had to smile.  Is a clean, shiny floor a bigger deal than having a few drops of orange sugar water dribble onto it once in a while from love shared between neighbors?

It wasn't difficult to decide which mattered more.  I got them them some napkins, gave them a hug, and sent them back outside,  but before I cleaned up the mess, I updated my shopping list.