My floors are always dirty.  Especially in the Spring and Summer.  Especially the kitchen floor.

You see, our back patio door opens off our kitchen, and we spend more time outside than inside when the weather is nice.  Our backyard is our oasis in the city- complete with trees, grass, and a sandpit.  The sandpit that we have may be the same kind that you have….. you know, the kind that sand seems to jump out of and stick to any child or dog within a 5m radius?  Yep, that kind.  This sand is then tracked into my house via the patio door via my kitchen floor.  Along with grass clippings, pebbles, sticks, twigs, rocks, bugs, dog food, flowers, grass seed, leaves, and all other backyard flora and fauna.

By day’s end, my floors feel more like sandpaper than tile, they look more beige than white, and they sound more rough than smooth.  Out comes the broom and the steammop, and I have nice clean floors again between the hours of 8pm and 8am.

But the sand I clean up reminds me of the huge sandcastle my son built, and the pride I saw on his face.

The grass clippings remind me of the excited smile my daughter had when she felt the lawn on her bare toes, and the sense of wonder in her eyes.

The sidewalk chalk dust reminds me of the artwork that graces my driveway, and the creativity and imagination it inspired.

The twigs remind me of the fun our puppy had exploring his new environment.

So I will take the sand.  And the grass clippings.  And the chalk dust and the twigs.  Because a clean kitchen floor means far less to me than a day of backyard fun with the dirt to prove it.

My floors are always dirty.  And I like it that way.

***This post was originally written as a Guest Blog post for Momstown.ca.