Little House on the Prairie

When a houseguest asks for a toothbrush, one would think that they simply forgot theirs at home. When that houseguest is my mother, however, she's asking because she feels compelled to clean the grout around my kitchen sink.

When my mother broke out the elbow grease this weekend, I wasn't offended. I was relieved and appreciative, largely because my house is looking rather rough. After all, I'm finding it hard to vacuum with a 20-pound baby in the Baby Bjorn carrier.

Unfortunately, grout grime is not our most obvious challenge. Rather, our weedy and unkempt lawn is. The grass in our backyard is so long that I've started referring to our home as the "Little House on the Prairie".

Although I'm not looking forward to entertaining a baby in winter, I am looking forward to a blanket of snow covering our front yard. Soon, everything will appear clean and white - on the outside of our house anyway.