Lately I've been having a bit of an internal struggle with what I’d like my house to look like and what it actually does look like. It's kind of like this cleanliness war is raging on without me and my piles of washing and endless sink of dishes are my enemies. Somedays I feel like my completely rocking it and everything gets tidied away at the end of the day, the floor swept, the surfaces mostly clear but then the next day arrives and my tiny (albeit very cute) destroyer of neatness wakes up and the battles rages on.
It's just that my tiny human is busy undoing all the tidying that I do. More often than not I'm just too tired to spend my evenings cleaning and putting piles of washing away. This means my washing basket has effectively become my new wardrobe. I rifle through the big basket every morning for my clean clothes and then I wash more and add them to the pile. Marie Kondo would not be impressed!
My new normal is picking out raisins and cracker crumbs which are stuffed down every crack in our couch cushions, mopping up countless drink spills to a chorus of 'uh oh' and jiffing yet another crayon creation off the dinner table. If I manage to make my bed and do the dishes thats pretty much a win right there and I count myself lucky to have had those spare moments to achieve those little goals in my day. Oh! I almost forgot tripping over the giant tower of books in the bathroom that our toddler has so lovingly stacked up but then forgets to put away.
I've been reading online about how other mums cope with cleaning and I've come to the conclusion the short answer is they don't. Most people with little kids under five are also living in this crazy state of constant mess and disarray and I think if I just take a few steps back I can actually come to a place that's a bit better for my own mental health.
I'm not always going to have a clean house, in fact I'm probably not going to in the next 5-10 years. That is unless I spent an entire day in my weekend cleaning or paying someone to do it for me. The truth is these tiny feet are not always going to be here bounding around our house. Pouring me pretend cups of tea, undressing their teddies, painting handprints and dropping their toast honey side down on my newly mopped floor. One day I'm going to wake up and suddenly my house will be tidy because they will be all grown up. It's hard to imagine right now but I think since I've become a mother I've had to take a chill pill on a lot of things that were previously pretty important to me. Namely house cleanliness.
I used to be the kind of person who had to clean my house from top to bottom before anyone could come and visit. Since becoming a mum (and having basically negative amounts of time) it's dawned on me that if I ever want to see any of my friends again I'm going to have to let them come over even if my house is not up to my previous standards or really any standards at all to be honest. A word of warning is you are coming over, you might have to push a pile of washing over to sit down but there is always fresh coffee and a house full of laughter and hugs. You might even get a toddler pouring you a cuppa tea and get to share it with a teddy bear or two.
It's not that I don't want to be tidy...
It's just that my tiny human is busy undoing all the tidying that I do. More often than not I'm just too tired to spend my evenings cleaning and putting piles of washing away. This means my washing basket has effectively become my new wardrobe. I rifle through the big basket every morning for my clean clothes and then I wash more and add them to the pile. Marie Kondo would not be impressed!
My new normal is picking out raisins and cracker crumbs which are stuffed down every crack in our couch cushions, mopping up countless drink spills to a chorus of 'uh oh' and jiffing yet another crayon creation off the dinner table. If I manage to make my bed and do the dishes thats pretty much a win right there and I count myself lucky to have had those spare moments to achieve those little goals in my day. Oh! I almost forgot tripping over the giant tower of books in the bathroom that our toddler has so lovingly stacked up but then forgets to put away.
Is it just me?
I've been reading online about how other mums cope with cleaning and I've come to the conclusion the short answer is they don't. Most people with little kids under five are also living in this crazy state of constant mess and disarray and I think if I just take a few steps back I can actually come to a place that's a bit better for my own mental health.
My new strategy? Embrace the mess! this is our life right now...
I'm not always going to have a clean house, in fact I'm probably not going to in the next 5-10 years. That is unless I spent an entire day in my weekend cleaning or paying someone to do it for me. The truth is these tiny feet are not always going to be here bounding around our house. Pouring me pretend cups of tea, undressing their teddies, painting handprints and dropping their toast honey side down on my newly mopped floor. One day I'm going to wake up and suddenly my house will be tidy because they will be all grown up. It's hard to imagine right now but I think since I've become a mother I've had to take a chill pill on a lot of things that were previously pretty important to me. Namely house cleanliness.
I used to be the kind of person who had to clean my house from top to bottom before anyone could come and visit. Since becoming a mum (and having basically negative amounts of time) it's dawned on me that if I ever want to see any of my friends again I'm going to have to let them come over even if my house is not up to my previous standards or really any standards at all to be honest. A word of warning is you are coming over, you might have to push a pile of washing over to sit down but there is always fresh coffee and a house full of laughter and hugs. You might even get a toddler pouring you a cuppa tea and get to share it with a teddy bear or two.
 |
| Note: I picked the most haggard bear I could find aka my current status hahaha |
Comments
Post a Comment