Once I became a mother, I tried to do everything around the house that I had done before I became a mother but even a perfectionist or a muli-task woman is eventually forced to be reasonable.
It wasn't until I was exhausted that I finally I capitulated and grudgingly accepted the fact that only a few chores were essential -
clean clothes, clean little bodies, clean kitchen and bathrooms--period.
Most anything else I liked to keep up was for status, keeping up with fashions or trying to give visitors a good impression.
Sometimes I had to give myself a good shake and let go of an impossible standard and and remind myself that a peaceful, centred mom has peaceful and happy kids.
Two things helped me put everything into perspective:
If I cleaned my house everyday for two weeks at the end of that time period, my house would be clean.
If I cleaned my house once a week for two weeks, at the end of the experiment, my house would be clean.
And what if I cleaned my house only once, at the end of the two weeks?
My house would be just as clean as if I had done it everyday. It might take a little bit longer is all.
This new way of viewing housework lifted a whole burden of guilt off my shoulders.
The second trick was learning how to juggle while balancing on a beam.
One acrobatic trick to is the ability to operate in two different gears, slow and patient and fast and furious.
Fast and furious is for the moments when little ones are sleeping .
If I cleaned my house once a week for two weeks, at the end of the experiment, my house would be clean.
And what if I cleaned my house only once, at the end of the two weeks?
My house would be just as clean as if I had done it everyday. It might take a little bit longer is all.
This new way of viewing housework lifted a whole burden of guilt off my shoulders.
The second trick was learning how to juggle while balancing on a beam.
One acrobatic trick to is the ability to operate in two different gears, slow and patient and fast and furious.
Fast and furious is for the moments when little ones are sleeping .
Slow and patient is best for ANYTHING to do with little kids.
If you try to rush
little people, they dig in their heels, become antagonistic and angry.
Trust me. Slow and patient gets better results because everyone is calm.
I tried to let toddlers fumble and try to do things on their own. In the end, even if they look a little odd, they felt proud and become more and more independent. Sometimes checked pants were worn with a polka dot top but they did it on their own! Little people's happiness and self growth are more important than what outsiders` think about our homes or their appearance.
I don't want to die and find out my priorities were all wrong, that I chose public approval over love.
If you try to rush
little people, they dig in their heels, become antagonistic and angry.
Trust me. Slow and patient gets better results because everyone is calm.
I tried to let toddlers fumble and try to do things on their own. In the end, even if they look a little odd, they felt proud and become more and more independent. Sometimes checked pants were worn with a polka dot top but they did it on their own! Little people's happiness and self growth are more important than what outsiders` think about our homes or their appearance.
How true. I emailed this post to my girls.
ReplyDeleteI hope they had a good laugh
ReplyDelete