"Don't judge me, I didn't have time to clean the house yet". I have probably said this sentence more times than I can possibly count. At every visit, for some reason, I find myself giving this half-ass explanation as to why my house is nothing close to picture perfect. And I've found that I really don't have to explain a damn thing!It is absolutely crazy that as moms, we feel the need to explain to the people who understand the most why our house looks the way it does.
I mean, come on, isn't it kind of amazing how quickly a child can become so destructive? It leaves us with a constant battle between choosing to follow them all day, cleaning up after them, or waiting until the house is completely obliterated and cleaning it up during bed time. And let's be honest, I usually choose the following, spending an hour to clean up the whole house in the disastrous state to finish off the day.
So despite the effort, my house is not perfect. On any given day, there is bound to be at least one room that is considered by any standard, a mess. Usually it's found in my son's room, where he unleashes his playing throughout the day the most. And on the messiest of all the days is the day that I am worn out to the max, wondering if cleaning up at all is even worth the effort. Because I know that tomorrow it is just going to end up the EXACT SAME WAY! So why should I even bother? But then I remember how I feel every morning when I wake up to a clean house or how my family may stop by at any time. So I get my crap together and somehow make my house whole again.
It's on these days that I wonder why I even allow people into my house in the first place. If having guests causes this much anxiety in making everything perfect, then why I even have them come? I mean these are the people in my life that I should be the most comfortable with, mess and all. I shouldn't need to care if my house isn't perfect.
In the end, I'm starting to worry less about the people that do care about it. Because if I have a messy house, well that just means that my kids had a good day being creative and having a blast. It's a lot easier to relax and be happy when you don't have to worry about being judged. This is not why they're visiting in the first place, so let it go, and make a mess yourself.
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