Excuse This House

Some house try to hide the fact that children shelter there.
Ours boasts of it quite openly,
The signs are everywhere...
For smears are on the windows
Little smudges on the doors;
I should apologize, I guess for toys strewn on the floor.

But I sat down with the children
And we played and laughed and read;
And if the doorbell doesn't shine,
Their eyes will shine instead.

For when at times I'm forced to choose
The one job or the other...
I want to have a tidy house,
But first I'11 be a mother.
-author unknown