I'm not going to sit here and pretend I'm some sort of Perfect Mum whose got all her shit together because Honey - I'm not!
My House is not always pristine and beautiful as I present it when people come over, and as most mums I dread those times when people just drop in unannounced ! Infact its those last minute "Hey I am in the area I will be around in half an hour" texts, leads to fast clean ups where I whizz around like a blue arse fly trying to pretend life is not chaotic! Don't get me wrong - we don't live like pigs but I'm real and I admit the house isnt 100% all of the time. Its not always amazing though I try my best to stay on top of it all.
As a mother you know the drill, you work tirelessly cleaning and tidying the house , getting the washing organised only to turn around and see two or so tiny tornadoes following you everywhere you go undoing all your efforts. - You know what I am talking about! Those windows you clean once in a blue moon within half an hour of sparkling in their glory they are covered with strategically placed tiny hand prints and sticky finger marks. That bench you just wiped down for the umpteenth time is now covered in milk dripping from your child's cereal bowl and god forbid if they had weetbix for breakfast because that shit sticks like cement. Your beautiful clean floor (ha.ha.ha.) that you have just vacuumed and moped is now scattered with a trail of crumbs. Toys which are meant to be only for the toyroom mysteriously end up down the hallway floor and its almost as though you need a radar detector to walk the area and hope to anything you don't stand on a piece of lego. Then there is the playdough.. you know what I am talking about ladies and it is not great mushed into the carpet and sitting and picking it out while it has hair stuck in it really is vomit material. .
Do not even get me started on the freshly painted walls in your home, you know - the ones you just paid thousands for & there is Mr 2 with a ballpoint pen in hand proud as punch with himself as he gauges his masterpiece on his bedroom wall , turning to you to beam his cheeky smile while you tell yourself to "JUST BREATHE!"
Yeap! Life's no picnic, that pile of folded washing to be put away - DO NOT LEAVE IT UNATTENDED FOR 5 MINUTES! or you will soon find it scattered like colourful clean confetti across your living room floor. That basket of washing sitting there on the couch, the one that has been there for 2 days because you swear if you look at any more washing your gunna end up sitting in the corner rocking yourself back n forth , the one that you end up hunting through for the item of clothing you've been looking for but cant find - yea its in there! That's what I like to call the "lived in look" or "life happens house style"
I had a friend over the other day and I said to her "apologies my house is a bit of a mess today" and she turned to me and gently reminded me - she herself is a mother too - she gets it and if my house was tidy she would think there was something wrong with me!
As you look around your once perfect home with you're hands pulling at your hair and teeth gritted and a sense overwhelms you and you literally do not know where to begin, then just sit down first and have a cup of tea - because tea solves everything! then work on it room by room and it is less daunting. You have got this its okay you will get through!
Please remember too, your kids are not going to remember you for that tidy house. they are going to remember you for the fun times they had in that house mess and all.
Sometimes at the end of the day when your other half walks through the door and being the wonderful person they are they ask how your day was and what did you get up to today. You think to yourself - is it not obvious, then you look around the room at reality realise hold on no its not obvious at all! and you smile sweetly and say "I have worked for F*%&ing hours cleaning today, can't you tell" in a teasing sarcastic way. All the while toys and clean washing piles are spread for miles across the floor and you say "It's clean, its just not tidy!"
Then you give each other that knowing look , have a cuddle and say "Hey Life happens right! " ... either that or you get cross and do the whole " be me for a day" speech - don't deny you haven't had this one ladies! However to be fair I am actually pretty lucky as my husband helps out quite a bit around the house.
So if you ever come over to my home and it looks like this - know i have worked really hard or a miracle of some sort has happened.
All n all - One day when your kids have left home your house will once again be immaculate but you will miss the pitter patter of tiny feet following you everywhere and the mess in hindsight wasnt that bad after all and what you wouldnt give to have those chaotic days and moments back again. The fun the laughter, the loudness, the mess, its your children enjoying life, its an expression of creative, imaginative, lively learning children.
So just roll with it - its not the end of the world!
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