Try as I might, I can not keep this house clean!
I'm not talking about a dirty house with stuff growing in the refrigerator, 1/4 of an inch of dust on the furniture and carpet that hasn't seen the vacuum in who knows how long.
I'm also not talking about a house that needs to be on Clean Sweep. Although, since I'm keeping it real, my basement could be on Clean Sweep!
I am talking about a house with toys, shoes, books and art/crafting supplies on the floor, couch, beds, tables, etc. They are frequently put away by me, my children, and my husband. No matter how many times we put them away, they somehow manage to find themselves a new home somewhere that is NOT their "spot."
At family councils, we discuss the importance of picking up after ourselves and not putting things down in places where they don't belong. We have tried many strategies to try to fix this problem but nothing has worked so far. We can have this house clean as a whiste at 10:00 am and find it in a "We hope nobody stops unexpectedly" state by 3:00 pm! Seriously-- I am not even exaggerating! I don't need to exaggerate because the truth is already unbelievable.
I wonder if this problem is common in homes with more than two children. I remember being able to keep the house neat, cook homemade meals, do all of my chores and STILL have time to read when I only had two children. I considered myself to be a great mother and a decent homemaker.
A couple of years ago (probably when I was expecting my fourth child), I called my mother to tell her what an awful mother and homemaker I turned out to be. She asked me if I remember my childhood home being messy. I told her that I didn't and that her house was always neat. She told me that when we were little it wasn't always neat and pointed out that I don't even remember the mess.
So, I just have to remind myself that my children are not suffering and won't even remember all of the times this house has been messy. We play a lot of games, make a lot of treats and have a lot of traditions! These are the things they will remember! (I hope.)
2 comments:
Oh Heidi. I feel your pain. Constant mess my friend. At lest one room is always a mess. Usually more than one whole floor. The laundry really gets me down...but less since you taught me your rules...I blessed your name today thinking how different it all is because of you. Yesterday I was a horrible mother because I told Lincoln, Sam and their friends that they could NOT play outside because I HAD to clean the house. It was a disaster and I could not watch them while I did that. I felt horrible. It's all good in the end.
Okay, so I only have two kids and my house can get turned upside down in just a few minutes. I do have a smaller home which makes a smaller mess seem much larger. Don't be so hard on yourself though...you are a great mom! I feel like all I do is clean, and most of the time that is not as important as some of the other things that we could/should be doing. Just think of the good, better, and best strategy! It's good and even better to keep a clean house, but there are best things that we should be doing and sometimes I forget about those!
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