Create!

I know it's cliche, but I usually kind of like the idea of New Year's Resolutions.  I'm rarely one who sets specific resolutions (except for last year, when I had one very specific goal in mind), but I like to try to think of themes for every year.
This year, it has taken me a while before I came across one that I liked, but as I went over my 30-before-30 list, my theme ended up kind of jumping out at me as I reviewed the goals I have yet to do: Create.
Let me tell you why.
I've learned something about myself recently: sometimes, I get really irritated when I am constantly doing things that immediately get undone.
I washed the sheets?  One of the kids will have an accident, get sick, or leak through a diaper.  Guaranteed.
I cleaned the baseboards?  Maggie will throw her food.
I turn on a light?  Clark immediately turns it off (no joke.  That kid loves turning off lights and closing doors).
I put the coloring books away?  Jack gets them all out again, claiming, "But Mom--I wasn't done, even though I haven't touched those coloring books for the past four hours!"
I organize the cupboards?  Maggie empties them all out onto the floor.
Dishes?  Oh, please.
Scrubbed toilets?  Not with a 4-year-old boy around.
Sometimes I feel that I am literally followed around by a bunch of small people who immediately undo everything I do. And yes, I'm using the word "literally" correctly.
The point of this list (aside from being a basic chronology of the events of the past two days) is this: A lot of what I do as a stay-at-home mother of young children is either unnoticed or unfinished.  I will never be "done" parenting my children, just as I will never be "done" learning charity, patience, or faithfulness through adversity, just as I will never be "done" with laundry, cleaning up spills, or scrubbing toilets.
It just doesn't happen in this life--at least, not in this stage of life.
And I'm learning to be okay with that.  Some days are better than others, but still--it's a lesson I'm recognizing needs to be learned through all of the spilled syrup, quarrels, and sticky fingers on my piano keyboards.
However, it does feel nice to finish something once in a while, and that's where my theme for the year comes in--in fact, my entire 30-before-30 list has been a list of things to finish.  Things to check off, thrilled at the fact that they were done, perhaps to be done again, but only if I have the desire.  And, oh, checking off some of those items has felt extremely satisfying.
Several of the 30-before-30 goals that I have left to be finished this year are creative goals--paint, write, express myself musically--and once those things are done, they can never be undone.  Those things I have created are finished, lasting proof that occasionally, I can accomplish something visible, concrete, and appreciatable (yes, I just made up that word) by people who can't see the moment-to-moment busy-ness that is my life right now.
Therefore, I have resolved this year to overcome my fears and just create.  It doesn't matter if it's great or if it will be appreciated by anyone other than me.  I will make my home a more beautiful place through my creations, and that's all that is important to me.