This post was also featured on For Every Mom.

Someday we’ll have nice things. But today is not that day.

The other day, I came across an old picture from when our first son was a baby. Our house was pristine. There was a glass vase on the table, and we still kept wine bottles in the cabinet near the floor.

Someday we’ll have nice things again, I found myself thinking.

But with 3 sons 6 and under (and a baby girl on the way), today is definitely NOT that day.

Take this morning, for example.

I got the boys ready, put a small dab of toothpaste on their toothbrushes and went upstairs to get dressed. Literally, to put on clothes. No makeup, no shower, no nothing.

I come back down to find this.

And this, my friends, is just an average Tuesday.

I’m sure you have some version of the same.

Literally, it’s gotten to the point that my kids dump every single shampoo bottle. And we buy the family-sized ones. If we leave them alone in the shower for more than 2 minutes, $7 of shampoo goes straight down the drain. You know, for sport. Because that’s what boys do. It’s gotten so bad my husband finally said forget the shampoo bottle thing, and we’ve literally started washing them with bar soap. Yep, even their hair. That is where we’re at.

Yesterday, I came downstairs at 6am to find 2 full boxes of cereal, dumped across the kitchen floor. (Why?!?)

The day before that, all 3 of them got up at 4:15am for the day. (Why, oh why?)

Last week, I had to call our plumber to wrench a travel-sized shampoo bottle out of our toilet. He comes to our house so often that, about a year ago, he started answering my phone calls by name.

“Hi Janie, what’d they flush today?”

I kid you not, my friend.

Over the weekend, a hockey stick cracked the corner of our granite countertop in the kitchen. (Literally, how does that even happen?)

In case you’re wondering, we Gorilla Glued it and went about our day. NBD.

And, I’ve saved the best for last. A few months back, I had the crazy idea to go take a shower while the 2-year-old was watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

Silly me.

I come back down to find the toddler had gotten into our craft paint (like, not kid paint, real acrylic paint), and smeared it all over the house. Like, multiple locations. The TV table, my new rug, all over the floors, the closet doors, and of course, himself. (And of course, the black paint, because why would you choose white in a situation like this? *wink*) It literally took me 2 hours to clean up, and all I could think was, ‘Wow. Thank goodness this is a season.’

It’s a season, all right.

A season when I can’t turn my back for a minute. Or leave anything breakable, or nice, out.

At any point.

In any day.

On the days when I find myself pondering if I will ever be allowed to have nice things, I am especially grateful for my Lily Jade bags.

If you’ve been following me for any length of time, you know that I love these bags because they are diaper bags that look like regular bags. In fact, I recently gifted my bestie with the Lily Jade Meggan Grey & Silver, and her youngest is 3 and well out of diapers.

Lily Jade recently sent me their Elizabeth Navy & Gold, and if it isn’t the most chic color combo, I don’t know what is. There is something classic and effortlessly stylish about navy leather, and I simply cannot get enough.

Sometimes, I just sit alone in the guest room and stroke that beautiful leather to remember I do have a few nice things in life. I also lock the bathroom door every time I pee and can’t drink out of a glass coffee mug.

This is mom life, my friends.

We may not have glass coffee tables or hurricane vases (or anything out on any surface in any part of our home), but we do have a few nice things we can revel in until the kids grow up and dress themselves and drink out of regular cups.

Baths.

Chats with friends.

A hot cup of coffee.

A favorite lip gloss.

A nice pair of boots.

And for me, my Lily Jade.

(But, make no mistake: this beautiful bag is kept high on a shelf in the guest room closet. Heaven knows we do NOT need any black paint or toothpaste coming anywhere close.)

A huge thanks to Lily Jade for sponsoring this post!