Enjoy your chaos

As I sit here sipping my tea in the quietness I glance around my house, it is relatively tidy but this has not always been the case.  While my kids were growing up my house was  a constant state of controlled chaos!  CONTSTANT!!  This post goes out to all you sweet mommas trying to keep  your wits about you  while sweeping up crumb covered floors, retrieving lego pieces and hair bands before you dump the dust pan into the trash bin. Embrace this moment!  I promise you one day you too will be sitting  at your kitchen table in the peace and quiet reflecting on days gone by and how silly it was to be so up tight about having a tidy house!!

I know you’ve heard this many times but it is worth repeating!!  Do not stress over the mess.  Have everyone do there part in the cleaning process but relaize that clutter will happen.  We have three kids and they were all involved in different activities. There were times I worked and times I didn’t but I can say that didn’t matter much on the tidyness of our house.  When I was not working I was volunteering at school and running car lines and picking up and dropping off at various events. Cleaning and organizing was always “I’ll get to it later.”

I know some of  you can relate!

Here is where my story gets a little sad. I was SO emabarrased about my cluttered house that I did not usually invite people over. On the few occasions we did extend and invitation I was a monster the days before and hours leading up to guests arriving, but my house would be spotless.  I did this because I thought everyone was more organized, better at getting their children to do chores, and not as lazy as me!!  I could’t let any one know I was really just one step away from chaos at all times!  Alas, I was just contributing to the mom perfection problem and making my self a stressed out mess.  Sadly, I missed out on the joy of having a mom over for company or a couple over to hang out with us on the weeked due to… EMBARRASMENT!!

Serioiusly!  Why do we do that to ourselves?!  Who really cares?! My house was clean (ish) I mean I did not have mold growing in my kitchen ( ok, ok, maybe in a few containers in the fridge) but you get the picture.  Why was I so up tight about my home needing to look picture perfect?  AND that was before social media!!

Please, Momma, take a deep breath and know most mom’s are just like you.  One of my biggest regrets from my childrens toddler through middle school years was not inviting friends over, I feel like we missed out on a lot of special times.  Thankfully my kiddos convinced me, when they were teens, that their friends did not care if the house was a mess.  As a result we always had a house full of teenagers which I loved!!

Although there was that one time…

One of  my sons had a girl over to watch movies and when I looked at the upstairs bathroom (sadly after the fact)  there was “boy” mess on the seat, towels and underwear on the floor with a little kitty litter mixed in for good measure.  Needless to say I was mortified!!  AND he got an eduacation on a presentable bathroom!

As a retired mom I want to remind you, enjoy your life amidst the chaos.  That chaos is your family in all of its glory!  Some day the stairs will be clean and laundry will not reproduce like rabbits.  Suddenly its quiet and you are reflective and you will only remember the good times.  So make more good times.  Do not let fear or emabarrasement stop you from enjoying friendships and creating new memories that will be cherised forever.

I truly applaud those mommas who are super organized naturally!!  I have always envied that ability! But to all of you who are not and feel like you are on the brink of losing your sanity, take a deep breath and know it is not that important! Look at the sweet faces of your little chaos makers and remember that they will grow up. What do you want to remember?  A spotless house or the noise and laughter of conrolled chaos??

There will be plenty of time for cleaning when they all go off to college.  My house has never looked so good! I cherish the days when they come back like a dust storm blowing into my house!!  I love the chaos!!

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