I need to post about this. I've always been sort of "obsessed" with trying to keep a clean house, and disappointed that I'm not that great at it (especially when I'm pregnant...). Not that our house is gross, it's just cluttered, the dishes aren't always done, and the floor rarely gets mopped. Don't get me started on the toilet (the bathtub gets cleaned a couple times a week because Alana confuses it with the toilet while she's bathing!)
Sometimes I want Alana not to make a mess because then I won't have to clean it up. My friend Karen has been a great example of just chilling out. When we're at her house and Alana or Jacob put cheerios or pretzels on the floor, she just says "well, Jake will have a snack later when he gets hungry, and I can always vacuum it." So I'm trying to be less OCD. Or at least, less upset at myself for not meeting some imaginary standard that somehow I've thought a "good Mormon mom" would have to meet. (By the way, I realize there is no one way to be a "good" mom. I just have to let go of my crazy ideas!)
To illustrate how I'm becoming more chill, today I let Alana feed herself with a spoon. I'll post a video of it, because it's cute. But it was also messy. And I thought, "hey, she's developing eye-hand coordination, learning a valuable skill, enjoying herself, and she's going to get a bath after dinner anyway." When she was first born, I changed her outfit if she spit up on it. Now my policy is "if you get it dirty, you still have to wear it." Luckily she doesn't care. Luckily even when I go to the library for story time and see all these perfectly groomed moms(complete with makeup and stylish clothing) and babies (complete with tights, hair bows, shoes, etc...) instead of thinking "why can't we look like that?" I think "I wonder how they found the time to look so nice. I'm lucky we're not still in pajamas."
So, to sum it up: I'm ok with messes. I'm excited for the day when I can say "Hey Alana, guess what? Because I love you so much and you're such a good girl, you get to vacuum the living room!" And then she'll jump up and down and laugh and tell me I'm the best mom ever for trusting her with such an important task!! But for now, we'll eat cheerios of the living room floor (but not off the kitchen floor...like I said, I almost never mop...)
7 comments:
You are a good mom. I can really see how much you love Alana everytime I'm with you and in all that you write on your blog. Alana is lucky to have you. Love ya bunches!
Ugh Crystal..you just leave messes? Gosh, how could you. You should always hang up clothes, have your dishes done, keep the bathroom spotless, and have absolutely NO clutter, EVER! Then you'd be perfect like me...ha ha ha!
***Only joking...and you'd believe it if you saw my house right now, it's a train wreck and I don't even have any kids to blame!
Isn't it funny how you change as your baby gets older? When Chase was first born I was like a germ freak! I was constantly sanitizing and boiling everything! But then reality sets in! Good job for going easy on yourself! All that matters is that everyone is happy and healthy right! I am so excited for your baby #2!
I'm glad I'm not alone!!!!
Clean toilets and mopped floors are overrated!!! Im glad Im not alone :) I say when your kids are all grown up you're not going to wish you had always cleaned the floor or the toilet, you are gonna wish you spent more time with them, even if it was making messes :) Hope that you are feeling allright!
You get points for any cleaning you do while being pregnant with a child to chase after. I don't like mopping or sweeping either. I don't mind vacuuming, excpet I have so many baby items on my floor that I have to move to vacuum under (swing, jumper, stoller, etc) I think it's all about finding a balance of "clutter" that you can live with, but not letting it slide too much that it drives you crazy (I kind of went from one end to the other before I balanced out a bit)
I think I'm going to create mop socks so we can just scoot around the kitchen and dining room and clean as we go, because that's the only way it's going to get done with any kind of regularity. I do have to vacuum every few days because Cooper's in that pick-everything-off-the-floor stage. But it's far from perfect.
Post a Comment