"My house might have been messy when you kids were growing up. But I realized after I became a mother, that I could either have an immaculate house, or play on the floor with my kids. To me, playing is more important. I don't feel guilty about that."
"My biggest job when the kids started coming was holding people on my lap. For the times when I had so many of you at home, that's pretty much all I did some days; lap-sitting. It was my biggest, most important job... and if I didn't get anything else done, that was OK."
These two things have given me a lot of hope and peace. I have these days... you know, where the laundry takes all day to fold because I keep getting interrupted. When I stop and remember these things that my mother has said, I realize that I'm not being 'interrupted' by my children... I'm doing my most important job. If I can get housework and other stuff done during the day, that's really kind of a bonus.
One thing I have learned... if I do my housework before the kids get going in the morning, it takes one-tenth the amount of time to do it, and I feel much MORE peace spending hours holding children on my lap, or helping them with their math, or playing or talking to them. It makes me feel good to know, though, that my priorities are on straight, even when my house looks like a dryer eploded across the living room and there are yesterday's dishes still in the sink when I start to make dinner.
motherhood, gotta love it.
6 comments:
are you kidding me??my sister wouldn't let tony in her house when he was two through 6...you rember tony, right///???NOW I'M NOT ALLOWED IN SHELLEY'S HOUSE BEcACUSE YOU DO KNOW THINGS MATTER MORE THAN PEpOLE...RIGHT?????what goes around comes around..poor tony...also dogs have alays been in our house and our clean groomed family dog sandy can't come in our own house without complain..go figure
It's always been difficult for me to put up with a mess, but you're right...messy was usually a sign of happy children playing about.
Wait until they get old enough to clean their rooms themselves. Plus, they do laundry too!
Life is good.
Now I see where a lot of your wisdom comes from.
I love your Mom. I love you, too. Your children are so blessed to have you.
Those are good words of wisdom. Children grow up so fast. It's good to put aside the "fussies" and spend time with them while we have them with us.
I respect you so much.
My house was "so so". I got most of my work done at night, after the kids went to bed, if I wasn't too tired.....During the day between kids and callings, I was a busy bee. I am thankful that my husband understood.
My mom always put her kids first and it made an impression on me, we knew we were loved. I can remember her saying that she would clean all day and when we would come home from school, it was a disaster area in 30 minutes....lol.
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