I just had one of those Oprah, ah-ha moments.. you know, one of those where the it's like the lightbulb just turns on.. I have this thing with my house. Well, maybe it's more like a thing with housecleaning. I don't particularly care much for being a housekeeper BUT at the same time I know that when things are crazy disaster messy, I get cranky and I can really appreciate a clean/tidy house. Not only that but I feel tremendous pressure to have this perfectly kept house, keeping up to the 'perfect' standard. When we have friends and family over I ALWAYS tidy all day before they come or appologize profusely if we have 'surprise' company and things aren't picture perfect. It has a lot to do with my complex of perfectionist and people pleaser.. so needless to say, my lack of desire to clean can create a frustration within myself.
Lets open up the playing field - I have 2 kids, 4 (almost) yr old that likes to dissect and discover how things work and a 2yr old that continues to discover new things, 2 daycare kids (3-4 days a week) ages 4 (almost) and 2.5yrs - excellent accomplises!! So there is a little window into what I'm really dealing with.
My ah-ha moment: my house is comfortably clean with a lived in look!! You know what, I think I can accept that! It's not perfect, but it's clean (not necessarily tidy, and yes there is clutter), but it's a fact of my life that there will be toys that you will step on, toothbrushes in the kitchen, scrapers on the living room floor and blankies strewn on the floor. As long as I can keep it to that level, I think we can manage. What is your style of clean? Any tips to a busy mom how to keep things to a happy-medium?
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I agree! My house hasn't been spick and span clean since I had kids...and I don't care. :) I do tidy up before company comes, but that does not usually include anything like dusting, vacuuming, sweeping, etc. It's more like quickly pushing all the toys to one side of the room, throwing dirty clothes in the laundry and maybe doing the dishes. haha. :) Honestly? I don't want my house to be a disaster, but blankies and toys laying around, dirty dishes and dust on my piano just isn't near as important as spending time with my kids/family/friends is. Time only happens once...cleaning? I can spend my whole "retired" life doing that! :)
Well, since you read my blog, you have likely figured out that I am rather neurotic when it comes to clean. I struggle with clutter and the perceived state of disaster of the house that is permanently embedded within my mind. I frantically scrub whenever I know that someone is coming over and find myself constantly feeling irritated as if that is all that I do (which is it).
And like yourself, I have a boy who just turned 5, a girl who is now 2.5 and 3-4 daycare kids for up to 11 hours per day with ages ranging from 18 months to 5 years old. Add in a husband who only cleans up halfway in my mind and well ya, that is what brings my stress to a daily neurotic level. But unlike yourself, I haven't achieved that ah-ha Oprah moment so continue to battle with my mind about how clean my house really is.
I should note though, that the cleaning gets done when the kids are sleeping, so that means that this Mommy spends more time cleaning that sleeping herself. Stupid I know ..... especially when there is so much more to life.
I completely agree with you Andrea, you can clean anytime, but your kids are only small once!! Allie, I feel the same struggle (about the clutter and disasterous state of everything) but the difference between me and you.. I would rather spend my time sleeping than cleaning :) haha.. I guess I have found a level of 'clean' that I am trying to maintain everyday so things don't get hurricane like, and yet I know it's not spic 'n span, a happy medium! I am tired of being cranky because my house is not perfect because life is too short for that, but I am trying to keep motivated to do a little everyday so it doesn't become such a HUGE thing!! tidy and organized has never been my strength :)
**Oh and you are lucky your husband cleans halfway, mine has a hard time comprehending that he needs to clean up after himself!
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