A couple weeks ago I allowed #4 to use glitter for her self-portrait required by her kindergarten class. I knew when I admitted to actually owning said glitter that I was asking for trouble. However, what's a 5 year old girl's self-portrait without glitter?

I told myself that I would FOR SURE put the glitter away when she was done. Ha. When I saw it in the basement a few days later, sitting inocculously on the coffee table I ordered myself to stop what I was doing and put it away RIGHT THEN. Ha, ha.

Today, I put on my gas-mask and took my antibacterial wipes downstairs to clean the basement where my children sleep and watch TV (i.e marinate) I do clean the basement every three months whether it needs it or not. Amid crumbs, banana peels, dirty socks, scattered puzzles and children's possessions that had reproduced themselves like rabbits, I found glitter. No longer in a container on the table, it was everywhere. It was all my fault--I knew better. But there was nothing left to do but clean it up.

I set to work and two hours later was vacuming up said glitter. And vacuuming and vacuuming and emptying my vacuum in hopes of better suction and vaccuming some more. I'm sure I got most of it, but glitter is kinda funny. A little bit (that, say, doesn't get sucked into the vaccuum) goes a very long way.

Finally, I turned of the vaccum and scowled at the glitter embedded in the floor. Then I paused, and realized how totally cool it looked. All over my ugly carpet are this sparkly little pinpoints. Were I younger and posessed of a more energetic imagination, it would have looked like some magical land where I could escape and pretend I was a princess.

So, I put the vacuum away and now, rather than wondering how long it will take to get rid of the glitter, I'm wondering how long it will stay.