Yesterday was my "cleaning day"... Monday's usually are. However, I don't even know why I bother to call it that, it is more like my "damage control day" where I try and make my house look a little more like something CPS MIGHT consider overlooking. I managed to get the house in order...some what...and my laundry was half done and folded, but still in all the baskets waiting to be put away. I woke up this morning and looked around once again to realize my house was a complete wreck yet again. The dishes that I had washed yesterday were flowing out of my sink and all over my counter tops once again... my kitchen table was covered with juice, crumbs, and a few toys here and there. My living room toy basket was once again dumped all over the floor, and my folded clothes in the laundry room had been tipped over. What is that saying? "Cleaning with children in the house is like shoveling snow while its still snowing." Yeah... that's about right. My Mom continues to tell me to try and clean as I go... My friends with immaculate houses and vehicles continue to amaze me... And my poor husband continues to love me some how. I am not a messy person, I LOVE cleanliness... and for the first few years of motherhood, I felt total anxiety every time my house would be turned upside down in filth. It still bothers me to an extent, but I have come to realize that I can't have both. I can't have a perfectly clean house right now AND enjoy my kids. Other mom's may have mastered this, but I have tried for 4 years and it just ain't happenin' over here. Instead, I tackle what I can and try to climb my way through the rest (literally). We have all heard this said in a number of ways, but here is my version...
One day, I will not walk into a bathroom to find my sink covered in hand soap and toothpaste, the floor stained with sip-up juice spots and random shoes and toys, and the walls won't serve as part of my son's pooping ritual (you don't want to know). Today, it will remain the grossest room in the house... next to my kitchen.
One day, I won't walk through my house and step on cracker crumbs, juice spills, and chewed up green beans that my kids secretly spit out in another room when I wasn't looking. There will not be trails of sip-up wrappers, chip bags, and sippy cups, ( ok, this may still happen later too because of my "larger child"). Today, I will just wear shoes.
One day, I won't open my van with a friend or stranger nearby and see the look of horror on their faces when they realize I could feed my family for a week with the amount of crumbs on the floor. Crayons, markers, shirts, shoes,cups, dolls, cars, coloring books and crumbled up papers will not be the floor, and there won't be fruit snacks and gum stuck to the seats. For now, at least I know in an emergency situation my vehicle will provide all that we need to survive.
One day, I will not go to pay for something and pull out a wallet overflowing with receipts and a diaper stuck to the side of it ( a clean one, don't worry). It will be organized, and I won't be that lady holding up the line trying to figure out where I stuck my debit card the last time I used it. For now, I will unashamedly share my travel screw driver with a stranger, and watch as they struggle to open it up because there is gum jammed inside of it from the bottom of my purse.
One day, I will no longer wake up to countless dishes covering my counter tops and kitchen table. It will be spotless and I will be able to safely eat my breakfast off them immediately upon waking up. But for now, I choose to leave the after dinner mess each night to go spend time reading, playing, or watching T.V. with my sweet kids.
One day, my husband and I will not pull back our blankets and climb into a bed of crumbs and children.We will have sweet smelling fresh sheets that I hung out on the line and lay peacefully with one another as we watch New Girl. But for now, we lay in our sheets full of "snacks", with four little wiggly bodies crawling all over us as we watch The Lorax for the 150th time.
So the next time you come over and see my house, my van, or witness me struggling at the grocery store register, know that I am not naturally a messy person, but in the battle between myself and "messiness", messiness is winning...and so are my kids. ;)
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