I have always been a person who took pride in a clean, well organized space. I would make time most weekends to make sure every item was in it's rightful spot. Not a lot of people enjoy cleaning out junk drawers in their spare time but I find it to be a calming exercise to start with a disorganized heap and turn it into a well categorized system. I love it!
Then I had a family...
I love my husband and he is so good to me and the kids but sometimes I really want to rip into him that not every room in the house can be his bedroom. Clothes are everywhere, papers are scattered, nothing is in it's proper location. It's a problem for me.
As for our children, their organization gene has not kicked in yet. Every now and again I see a glimpse of it and as soon as I get goosebumps showing them how amazing it could be, they've lost complete interest and I'm left to organize the toy room on my own once again. Oh, I've threatened to throw out all their toys and I've expressed many times how I will likely loose my shit if things aren't put away, nothing seems to really bring them over the edge into my world. This is probably a good thing because, let's be honest, they would more likely have a different system that I wouldn't approve of anyway and then there'd be the butting of heads, the yelling, the throwing.
I will say though, that I have gotten extremely better over the last five years or so. I don't know if it's from having a third child or that the older kids are becoming more involved in activities that I just don't have the energy or time to allow such dramatic cleaning. I can now look in a toy box and not completely freak out that the Barbies are mixed in with the kitchen set items. Or that the books are sitting upside down in the bookshelf and not right-side up, hey, at least they're in the bookshelf! Don't get me wrong, there are stills days every now and then where everything MUST be put in it's proper place and I will spend hours getting it straightened out, telling myself over and over that it's a pointless task as our three year old will have it mixed up again within half an hour.
It's been a long process but I have begun to realize that having a spotless home is not nearly as important and being able to relax with my family. This last summer was a great season of allowing myself to let the cleaning take a far back seat to making memories with my loved ones. Going to the pool, walking on the trail, just being outside almost all day was even more exhilarating to me than organizing. It felt liberating to let that go.
I haven't turned a full 180 and you will most certainly see me balking at a sign that reads anything remotely close to "A Dirty House Is A House Of Love". Come on. I still require one Saturday a month to complete a deep cleaning of the house. My husband knows to entertain the kids and stay out of my way for that one day. If they want to help, I'm all for it and if not, please stay out of my way. They are beginning to understand how mommy works!
One of these years, they all will have it figured out and I won't have to spend an entire day dusting and vacuuming and mopping by myself. Until then, this is my thing and as long as I keep it balanced and try to remind myself that things don't have to be perfect, we will all survive!
No comments:
Post a Comment