and this is precisely why...

...I rarely answer my phone during the day.

Unless my kids are napping or completely preoccupied, I refuse to answer my phone...especially if it's an unknown number. I. will.not.do.it. I've learned that it only creates a situation where a disaster is imminent. What might have been a controlled environment instantly turns to chaos.

Take the above disaster, for instance. At 11:00am my phone rings. It's an unknown number. Chloe's napping and the older two are snuggled together on the brown chair eating a snack and watching a favorite cartoon. I think I'm in the clear for answering the phone, as long as I make it quick, so I do the unthinkable: I answer my phone while my girls are in the next room.

Within seconds from answering, I realized I should've let it go to voicemail. A mother from my MOPS group was calling and really needed to talk and needed my full on attention. I decided to take my call into the other room, to have a little more privacy.

40 minutes later...I'm finally off the phone. Mentally fried and completely overwhelmed by the fact that I have 20 minutes to make lunch, get Ella dressed and ready for school, do her hair pretty for school pictures, and get my own self ready for a lunch meeting I had that day, I walked into the living room to find this...

Our entire game cupboard was emptied and every single game was strewn about my living room floor, millions of different pieces had been mixed together. All in one big pile.

I seriously didn't know what to do. What I wanted to do was walk back to my bedroom, crawl under the covers, curl myself into the fetal position and fall into a deep, dreamless sleep. Instead, I just stood there. Without words, without emotion. I was completely at a void of what to do. I was blank.

And then I did something you're never supposed to do in front of your children when they do something naughty --- I started laughing. Laughing uncontrollably. My girls, who had been sheepishly standing there amongst the mess, eyes darting all over the room, instantly looked at me as though some strange alien creature had inhabited my body. Relief flooded their little faces as they, too, started to laugh. Once I composed myself I made it very clear that "even though Mommy was laughing, this situation is NOT funny. There were going to be major consequences for not behaving while Mommy was on the phone."

My husband and I spent nearly 2 hours organizing the pieces and putting the games back together. We then had the girls help us pack all of the games into 3 large garbage bags. We told them we were putting their games into a 7-day time-out in the garage, and if this...

...ever happened again, everything would be donated to children who cared about their toys, listened to their parents, and of course, let their Mommy's talk on the phone.