Some of you have read this column long enough to remember the Mother’s Day my two young boys decided to “clean” my kitchen floor for me. I like to say they were cleaning it just to make myself feel better about the huge mess they left.

Allow me to recap a bit. My gift that morning from my sweet family was to let me sleep in an extra hour or two. This meant my dear husband would have Daddy Duty. Unfortunately he had stayed up late the night before and fell back asleep on the couch that morning while the mini-mischief makers took control of the house. Fast forward to 8 a.m. Lee came running into the bedroom yelling he needed my help. I wasn’t sure if my sleepy eyes were seeing correctly. It looked as though my kitchen floor was covered in a white, oily powder. It was and so were my children. Ethan had dumped out two cans of Carpet Fresh on the entire kitchen floor while Gavin gave into the temptation of the Orange Glow furniture polish. He had sprayed every inch of the floor, including Ethan’s head.

Looking back, I can laugh at the situation, but that morning it so funny.

Now, let’s return from our trip to the past and talk about Saturday morning. I learned a valuable lesson. It is not wise to drift in and out of sleep while your children eat Cheerios and watch Sponge Bob. I could hear them, laughing and playing and having what sounded like the best morning ever. And, it was the best morning ever … to them.

I had been expecting a call that morning so when the phone rang I jumped out of bed and ran to the kitchen to answer the call. My bare feet felt an odd sensation. Some steps were soft and some felt like little dull sticks poking into my heels. When I found my glasses I stared at my floor in disbelief. Scattered over half of our living room were 500 white and pink Q-tips. The boys had opened and emptied an entire box.

Surprisingly, I wasn’t even mad. I scolded them, turned my back and giggled without them noticing. Gavin was the first to offer up his apologies. Ethan only said “Ah Too” which is his phrase for “I love you.” The two plopped down on the floor with the empty box and picked up every Q-tip in sight. However, I have a feeling I’ll be finding those little pink and white sticks for weeks to come.

Eva Faircloth is a former newspaper editor and current Mary Kay independent sales director who resides in Loxley with her husband, Lee, and two sons, Gavin and Ethan. She can be reached at eva@cyrisoft.com.