As I waded through the toys and bits in my living room this morning, I began wondering if clutter reproduces itself. Does the missing Lego under the couch wink at the yellow dump truck across the room and make a date? Does the Harry Potter dvd invite the fake ketchup in the miniature kitchen up to the t.v. stand for coffee?

Delegation is definitely the key, especially when you work from home. How to actually do this is still a mystery to me. No, I?m not a control freak and have absolutely no desire to clean it all up by myself, but the half-job that is done when I order everyone to pick up the junk is annoying.

So it sits. (Ask my mother.) One day I will make enough to hire Merry Maids like I did when I was pregnant with my second child, but for now, I get to scream with pain daily as I step on another Matchbox car.

Is your house neat and tidy or does it look as if a gremlin ran through with 20 of his best buddies?