What a mess!

Yesterday I received a phone call from a fellow blogger who called to let me know that if I could see her house right now, I would believe her when she says that her house isn't always picked up. The interesting thing is that right before this person called (anonymity is crucial, I do not want to taint her "perfect" image) I was thinking about what a mess my house was.

I always find it a challenge when my kids feel it necessary to pull out every owned toy when friends come to play. Keeping track of where these toys are being dragged to and left behind is tiring. Or perhaps the most tiring thing is my almost two year old Spencer who thinks that any un-dumped bucket of toys needs to be dumped.

Keeping a tidy house is something I never thought I would struggle with. When I was first married my house was picture perfect. When baby #1 came the only challenge I encountered was making sure the diapers were picked up and put away. Baby #2 added some additional challenge but only that of keeping track of more diapers and the occasional toy left lying around. With baby #3 I felt my grip loosen with the upkeep of my house. There always seemed to be a mountain of laundry to be done, dishes from the night before to be cleaned, toys that needed to be put away and of course the dreaded bathrooms that needed disinfecting. I was feeling a little overwhelmed. My only solution was to shift my cleaning routine from day to night after the kids had gone to bed. Not my ideal but definitely workable. But wait, having baby #4 sad to say, has left me with no hope of ever enjoying a clean house for more than ten minutes. This is true, there seems no end to dishes, laundry, toys and unwanted messes. My only saving grace has been a new attitude of "oh well"! When a bucket of toys get dumped, food gets dropped or clothes are left on the floor I am capable of stepping over it and ignoring it.

I frequently ask myself: "what happened?" Until recent I was making excuses, but when I read a fellow blogger's comments with regards to these same frustrations, I realized that my focus had shifted. She said: "... things I accomplish in any given 24-hour period are usually the evidence of what I considered most important that day". Thank you, thank you. For now I will put away my quilt and shame for not always having a clean house and use the time spent worrying about my house, enjoying my children and husband.