As I was loading yet another load of laundry into the washing machine a few minutes ago, it hit me: THIS is why I sometimes hate being a stay-at-home mom. It's not the laundry per se. It's the fact that you're NEVER done! Unless you're doing laundry while you and your entire family are completely naked, there is more dirty laundry waiting for you! No matter hard you work to get it "done" it's never done. That small moment of accomplishment lasts no more than 12 hours when the kids start tossing dirty socks, pants, jackets, shirts, sweatshirts and underwear all over the living room.
Let's compare to my former life as a student: clear, concise, reachable goals with a definite deadline. And best of all, when you're done there is nearly instant feedback! Not only do you know if you are definitely "succeeding" or "failing" but you can even quantify your success or failure! My brain likes this. It's easy to wrap your mind around a 3.whatever grade point average and pat yourself on the back--it's not so easy to feel success when your kids reach some milestone. After all, shouldn't that be their success, not yours?
So where do we stay-at-home parents get our sense of accomplishment? Is it that laundry room that was totally clean for a record 45 minutes? Or the dishwasher that we unloaded barely in time to fill it up after dinner? Or is the dinner itself, which we spent four hours cooking and our families spent exactly 13 minutes gulping down or refusing to eat? Do we feel a sense of accomplishment when our kids clean their rooms after a mere seven weeks of being asked to?
Last night I went out to eat with some girlie friends from high school. We went to this cute little out-of-the-way restaurant called "Art City Trolley." Besides discovering that our server, Chris, was a really good sport with all of our giggling and snorting laughter, I also discovered there is a place that still serves that Heinz Ketchup that won't come out of the bottle. You remember those commercials where the guy would tip the bottle upside down, run down 99 flights of steps, buy a hotdog just in time for the ketchup to finally drip out of the bottle onto his plate? The motto was, "Good thing comes to those who wait."
I'm hoping that's true of parenting, too.
Amen..I so hate laundry and just told Keith the other day, that Iti s never ending. When he ask me what I have planned today, I respond with laundry of course.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think of house work the song "If you could hie to kolob" always come to mins. Instead of sining things like, "There is no end to matter, there is no end to space..." I sing "There is no end to laundry there is no end to dishes..."
ReplyDeleteI am so glad that I am not the only one that feels like that. I feel like I clean and do laundry and nothing is ever clean and the laundry is never done. I was informed that I spelled your name wrong on my blog I have fixed it SORRY : )
ReplyDeleteI agree about laundry and housework. It never ends and as soon as you mop the kitchen floor, you know someone is going to spill something sticky, but it's worth it!
ReplyDeleteThat last comment wasn't from Braxton, it's from Janae. I've somehow gotten into Braxton's account instead of mine. Oh well. I'm sure Braxton hates laundry and housework too. Janae
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ReplyDeleteI just 'found' your blog through the Church's and I'm very happy I did. You write so well it makes even the mundane, household, stay-at-home mom tasks seem somewhat interesting (and that's saying a lot.) I love that you can enjoy your kids (a little) even when they're stringing honey over the carpet. I'm glad to know you better, thanks for your thoughts!
ReplyDeleteA few 5th warders blog also, you can link to them from my blog. Becca, DeAnna, Kristen, Stephanie (she's moved though I think she was here when you were)
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