And there was first day and there was first nite and it just wasn't good

I drove my husband to the airport yesterday. We had a full 8 days together as a family. It was all good. Except that it was weird again to sleep alone in our bed and have a different schedule without him today. First nite and first day. They weren't bad. But they weren't good. They were without him. No, the days weren't lonely, oh no! No time for that! They were very busy with taxing kids to practices clear across town from eah other or making sure school gets done. But the nites can get lonely, even with a kid in your bedroom. Oh, let me explain here.

We have 3 girls. They all share one room. If you have even 2 girls you know that sharing a room with tons of clothes and girls' things can be very challenging. Well, since my husband's new job out of the country I've decided to let one girl share our bedroom (it's sort of long and narrow, so plenty of room for a twin size bed) and hoped for some sanity if only 2 share a bedroom. So, the oldest had her turn first. That was a huge blessing for the younger ones.
Then the middle one was relieved to finally have her privacy and last nite our 7yo baby inherited the privilege for the first time. I overheard her talking to her Build-a-bear Annie (she is really a bunny, not a bear) telling her how cool it was to have half a room all to herself and not to have to pick up behind her sisters. It was way too funny to listen to her.
It's been different to have a child share my bedroom. My "sanctuary" has never been the same since. I've had more of my kids' friends see my bedroom mess that I care to even mention. How can I stop an innocent friend who is not spying on me really, but just trying to play with my girl's dollhouse, which happens to be in my bedroom? It takes them a few days to get adjusted to their new location, my bathroom and the ease of getting to it on the first floor. But after that it's so ingrained in their smart, little brain that it's hard for them to get adjusted back to the old girls' room. One girl went a bit farther that we thought in that respect on hubby's recent visit.
While hubby was home our middle daughter( who shared the bedroom with me prior to his arrival) wondered into our bedroom at nite after a bathroom trip. She was desperately trying to get back into her bed which, by that time, had dad's suitcase and stuff on instead. We couldn't figure out the noise since we were woken up by the continuing sound and, finally, I investigated. Needless to say, it was absolutely comical and we could laugh in the middle of the nite at a poor child's embarassment, and not ours...
So, life it is different. My days and my nites. But it's a stage in my life I FINALLY learned to accept. Gracioiusly, mercifully, joyfully as need be! My room hasn't been the exact pristine picture I'd love to see myself on a daily basis and I've been embarassed lately, but, truly, I have no time to clean up my mess right off sometimes because I am too busy making sure the kids get their rooms cleaned ( so no one is stealing underwear and socks from each other (my girls like to hide them anywhere but the laundry basket so they buy the undies and socks from me lately for a charge of a quarter per each, period). In a rush to get out of the door to a game or a practice or grocery I drop some clothes on my bed in a hurry and then they build up. In fact I keep a (neat, most of the timet ) pile of clothes on hubby's side of the bed and when a kid attempts to lead me with a glance to my mess when rebuked of theirs, I have an excuse: it's there so I don't feel like dad's not there at nite. Yeah, right. It worked a few times. When I do get to clean my bed totally and get to organizing my drawers and such they wonder... Inconsistency has been a monster and I want to kill it! Anyone wise enough out there to tell me how? Please, make sure your advice it's free and not an ebook to buy, for I can't afford it in today's economy :)

Supervising the kids cleaning their messes has taken a huge chunk of my time, not to mention the ball season and other things going on in our lives at the moment. But, truly, without modeling the order, patience, kindness and other things we've been struggling with here lately, should I expect the desired results? No, not really. So, off to my lonely, messy bed I must go to make it right. Denial has never helped anyone. A kid is finally asleep in my bedroom, lights won't bother her. The house is quiet (almost if that teenager can finally settle down too!) and I can actually hear myself think and can pray outloud and no one but Jesus would hear. Wish me another day and another nite without hubby to be a productive one tomorrow. One filled with service and love for my family or others in need. I'll just take it one day at a time. Lord willing, we can make it victoriously for another 2 months and then we can be together again. Pray for us, for our job situation. We want our family together again soon.