Wow, arwsf, I thought my kids were the only ones who decorated the windows that way! and at that time we lived in the heart of the heart of BP.
Guess what? when the second set (of kids) came around, they just walked around with them all over their clothes. OF COURSE we had company at the time! Now i hide them so well i can’t find them when i need them.
I wish I could blame the kids for my lousy housekeeping, although NOBODY ELSE’s kids seem to color on the walls EVERY SECOND. A few times I put long rolls of paper on the walls just to contain their spontaneous art expressions.
My mother used to say her house was decorated in “Early American Childhood.” So even though in my case it is a euphemism for being too lazy to get myself up and cleaning/organizing/laundrying, hey, I’ll say it too. Thanks, Mom.
Oh, Rabbonim and Rebbetzins and most regular smart people recommend getting as much household help as you can afford when you have small children. In our case, that is none, but it’s a consolation to realize that most people do understand that children make a mess. (You know that Rashi that says Rachel Imeinu wanted children because she could blame the mess on them? It’s a great cover for those rare occasions when we ourselves are less than neat.)