Welcome to My World

I just got back from visiting a dear friend of mine who has two little boys and another little one on the way. I love this woman, because she is so real. She doesn't try to be anything than what she is, and she is very true to her beliefs. I hope when I grow up I am more like that. Anyways, she was apologizing, saying that her house was a disaster and how she hates when it gets like that and so on. I am the same way. I hate when my house turns into a disaster. I like things picked up, tidied. Though, I am not a clean freak by any means. You won't see me on my hands and knees scrubbing my floors but about once every couple of weeks. I vacuum once or twice a week, but not everyday. Most dog owners who are clean freaks would have a heart attack if they read I don't vacuum everyday. My kitchen stays in it's "used" state until after dinner, which means if you came over around noon, there would be breakfast stuff, crumbs from bread, banana peels, and Lula snacks and cups on my counters. I dust when I notice there is dust, sometimes I wait till it bothers me. I would like an immaculate home. But like my friend, I have a little one, the same square footage as her (about 1200 sq ft), and not a ton of time or energy to devote to anything but keeping my child happy, fed, and occupied. Plus, we're pregnant and feel like shit.

We got to talking, and we discussed how there is this pressure, especially on stay-at-home mom's to keep there house in a particular state. I mean, we are home all day, so what is the problem? We get the pressure from other moms, parents, friends, but mostly, I think we put the pressure on ourselves to try and show the world that we have it together and we can handle it all.

I could keep my house perfect. But this would mean I would be chasing around my daughter, picking up after her CONSTANTLY. I would have to keep her occupied by putting on mindless TV, so I could mop, sweep, whatever. I have gotten to the point where I have realized, "LIFE IS TOO SHORT!" My daughter will only be this wonderful, fun age once. I want to spend time with her. Watch her explore and learn in her world. I want to be present and I want to truly listen to her and my husband. The laundry can wait. The dishes can wait. There are too many precious moments that happen everyday for me to constantly be keeping my house absolutely perfect, and for whom, exactly?

I find myself scrambling before someone comes over to vacuum, sweep, pick up, mop, whatever. To what? Impress them that I have a clean home? Lula is the one who suffers when I ignore her following me around while I deep clean the living room. I have decided not to do this anymore. If you want to come over, you will see my house as it is. (hint: if you want to come over when it's clean, come over in the evenings or on Saturday mornings :-)).

My friend told me she wishes all of our mom friends would post pictures of their homes in the middle of the day. How there house really is in the middle of the day, right after you put the kiddos down for nap. What their living rooms look like after they step on one of the hundreds of matchbox cars that are strewn over the floor. This would make us feel better, more normal, and validate that we are still good moms and good wives. Well, I'll be the first to do it. This is what my house looks like right now, right after we got back from her house, right after I laid Lula down for her nap. And this is how it will remain until about 15 mins before Ryan gets home.

Side Note: This isn't even bad. I think my "Hurricane Lula Day" will be another post for another time. Haven't gotten myself to take pictures of one of those days...

We haven't moved Lula's kitchen into her room yet, so it sits here. At this moment, most of her food is in her basket, but this is not always the case

Crayons and stickers coat the carpet.

The living room. Notice, it is not all Lula's stuff. My massage table is still hanging out in here since Monday.

Laundry that is starting to climb up the wall

Clean laundry that I was proud to get done, but just hasn't made it's way to the appropriate areas.

Kitchen, after breakfast and lunch.

And guess what? I am assuming this will be considered clean when we add some more kiddos to our brood. And, I think I will be OK with that.