There’s a quote that says, “Good moms have sticky floors,
messy kitchens, laundry piles, dirty ovens and happy kids.” On any given day, I
can promise you that 80% of that quote is accurate in our household. The whole
“happiness” thing is usually hit or miss. But I think the concept is
spectacular! Spending time making memories with your kids is more important
than keeping a clean house. And it is a rule I have chosen to live by. Not that
I necessarily want to spend more time with my kids, but I so badly don’t want to clean, I’ll gladly
use them as an excuse to avoid the task! I’m only kidding. I love playing games
with them. It keeps me young. My self-image, however, has taken a bit of a hit.
I never get to play the beautiful princess—I am usually relegated to the role
of “Big Ugly Witch” (which I must say I’ve mastered over the years). I also
really enjoy hide-and-seek, which we play for multiple hours on end, everyone
using the exact same hiding spot every…single…time. And although it can be a bit monotonous, every
5th time or so I shake things up by hiding under the blankets on my
bed and get a good 10 minutes of quiet before they find me and I’m back into
the fray. The kids usually choose to hide under piles of clothes and toys, if
that gives you any indication of just HOW messy our house is on a daily basis.
I
often think I have the messiest house on earth. I recently found that MUST be
true when our 4-year old took it upon herself to clean the bathroom. Charli (who is learning
about money by earning little allowances for helping out around the house) left to use the restroom and never returned. So, like a
good mom, I set down my bon-bons, got off the couch and went to look for her.
She was drying off the countertop of what appeared to be someone else’s
bathroom. It was so clean! No toothpaste globs in the sink. No soap scum around
the knobs. I was amazed…until I learned just HOW she cleaned so thoroughly.
Let’s just say Michael’s toothbrush probably tasted a little funny the next
time he used it.
That
was almost as surprising as the time I walked into MY bathroom and found Charli
standing there holding a towel and wearing a deer-in-the-headlights look. I was
hoping she had cleaned it too, but I was very wrong. Our conversation went
something like this:
Me: What are you doing?
Charli: I wanted to use your
big girl potty.
Me: Oh, okay! But why are you
holding that towel?
Charli: Sometimes when I pee,
it goes down my leg.
I
quickly hung Jim’s towel back on the rack, helped her wash her hands, and had a
prompt discussion on proper wiping technique. (Jim, if you’re reading this…I’m
sorry.)
I guess I’ve come to grips
with the fact that my untidy house will never look like Martha Stewart’s, and
I’m ok with that. There is nothing I would rather do than spend all my days
hanging out with those rugrats. But hey, maybe if Martha had little kids at
home she’d spend more time playing with them and less time playing the stock
market! J Just a thought…
