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The Messiest House
Thursday, July 12, 2012 by Stef Daniel from Mom, Myself, & I
Sometimes, I swear I live in the messiest house on earth. It’s not really dirty or anything, because I am constantly cleaning. But with four kids running around all the time leaving their stuff in all sorts of places, things tend to get out of hand pretty quickly.
Just today, I spent several hours working on the computer and got up to find that I could barely see an inch of the living room floor. There were toys, crayons, iPods, shoes, clean laundry, towels and snack wrappers all over the place. Having grown up with a extremely neat, borderline OCD (okay completely OCD) mom (sorry mom!) whose home still today is picture perfect, I cannot deny that the messes irritate me from time to time. I feel compelled to clean them, sometimes to the point of distraction.
However, I am slowly but surely learning to curtail my urges to clean. Because really, what IS the big deal?
Every once in a while, when the kids are at school – I can enjoy my house as perfectly put together. But this feeling too rarely lasts because the moment the kids get home from school, there is evidence of their arrival. And even worse, it feels sterile, cold, and as if something is missing.
For many mothers who stay home all day, keeping house becomes sort of a job. How awful would it be for our partners to come home and the house looked like we haven’t done anything all day? What if a friend popped in and everything was in disarray? How can we be as perfect as June Cleaver if we allow our kids to build forts and leave them there for days?
I happened across this poem, which I love – and figured I would share it. I know that just today – it helped me forego the mess in the living room and simply lie on the floor and color with kids instead!
The Messy House - Author Unknown
Some houses 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 door.
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 door bell does not shine,
Their eyes will shine instead!
For when at times I am freed to choose
The one job or the other,
I want to be a homemaker
But first I'll be a Mother!
So today.....take a day off. Enjoy the mess! And enjoy the signs that children live under your roof! After all, it will all wait for you while your kids will not.
Stef Daniel
Stef Daniel is the 40ish year old, experienced (meaning crazy already)
mother of count ‘em…4 daughters (yes, she takes prayers) who have taught
her nearly E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G she needs to know about raising kids and staying
sane.
She hails from ...Read More
