I Tried to Keep Up
I started out just very tired, he didn’t sleep well and I still had a toddler to take care of. Laundry started to pile up and dishes filled the dishwasher and my husband’s dinner plates sat in numerous places around the house. My son was a needier child than my daughter was, he wanted to be carried everywhere and nursed almost 24 hours a day. I started to get tons of anxiety about my messy house, but as hard as I tried I always felt like I couldn’t keep up. It was a good friend who told me “you will have many years to have a perfectly clean house once your kids are grown, but they are only little once.” This helped me more than she will ever know. I cling to my friend’s words of wisdom when I have laundry pilling in doorways or my dishes seem never ending and when my children are asking me to read them a book or dance to their favorite song.
Letting Go of My Expectations
I had to learn to let go. I decided that dancing and reading with my kids was more important than cleaning their rooms. I wanted to watch a movie or do my notes with my husband instead of doing the dishes and spend time with my family instead of scrubbing windows. Yes my house looks lived in, not filthy but lived in, but now I’m proud of that. It’s our home and if you happen to show up unannounced I can’t guarantee that it will be clean but you will feel welcome and perhaps a little less stressed about your own house.
There were a couple ways that helped me to let go and of course having an easy going husband was a plus, but I did find that including my kids was the key to keeping the house from completely falling apart.
My kids love doing the dishes. They really get a kick out of the running water and soap…so we do them together most days and they don’t even realize it’s a chore.
