Staining the Fence

What is happening at my house?  Yesterday I went outside to work on staining our back fence.  Over the weekend,   I worked on staining the fence.  The rest of this week?  I need to work on staining the fence.  This is a slow process and due to the size of my baby belly I can only do it for about an hour and a half at a time.  (Then I sit down somewhere and fall asleep for equal time.)

I’m trying to get this finished before the weather finally catches up to the fact that it’s May and we need to turn the sprinklers on. 

Staining the fence is actually pretty rewarding because the fence is very old and very gray, so  it changes immediately to a nice reddish brown.  It’s work with definite progress. 

It’s the opposite of say, the laundry room, where you finally clean up the whole thing and are feeling proud for about two minutes until your kindergartener comes out crying that she has no pants and can’t get dressed and you realize her dirty clothes hamper is totally full and it’s all going to start again.  It’s also the opposite of say, sweeping or mopping the floor, where you get to enjoy it for about two minutes until your preschooler strolls in and dumps her entire bowl of cereal on herself, her chair, and, yes, the newly cleaned floor.

Staining the fence has other benefits as well.  The little girls come outside with me and play.  They ride their tiny bikes on our tiny back patio and swing and color with sidewalk chalk.  They build fairy houses.  I feel good about myself because they are out in the sunshine, instead of down by the tv staring at PBS (or as it is known at our house, “little girl shows”). 

I guess these “big” projects are pretty important.  I think mom’s need a break from the minutiae, the never ending jobs, the work that take years and years to see the progress.  It is good for the soul to see a job well done and well accomplished.  A job with a clear beginning and end.  Right this very minute, I need, I mean really, really need to help my little girls pick up their toy room.  But you know what I want to do.  I want to go outside and stain the fence.