My dirty kitchen table makes me happy

I never thought I would say that!

My kitchen table is a mess.
I mean, I just wiped it off, so there aren't any crumbs on it,
but it still looks downright filthy.

The mess makes me happy.
Truly, it makes my heart sing with joy.
The table is covered in dried paint,
paint that I have tried my hardest to remove,
purple paint, red paint, smudges of yellow paint.

As of tonight, it has also been decorated with fabric paint.
Why? Well, I thought we were using glitter glue.
Nope, it was fabric glitter paint.
But even if it had been glitter glue,
I would have been happy with the mess that made, too.

That table has seen one of my children's first drawings,
one child's first painting experience,
many-a-child's painting themselves every color under the sun.
It has been colored on, painted on, glued, and scratched.

There are knicks, stains, scrapes, and even teeth marks on the corners.
I might not have a beautiful table in my kitchen,
but I have made beautiful memories with my children and hope they will one day say the same.