I have a theory about clean houses and people who have kids. It's basically this;
If you have a sparkly clean house then you don't love your child.
Okay. Maybe that's not quite it. Let me try again.
If you have a sparkly clean house and you have kids, I hate you.
Agh. This isn't coming out right. Third time is a charm.
If you have a sparkly clean house, and have kids, then I'm putting you in my "UNICORN" category.
Don't get me wrong, our house is clean. Well, clean-ish. It gets cleaned in sections. The floors will be done, but the laundry is piled up. The laundry will get done, but the vacuuming gets neglected. Our bathrooms stay clean, but the basement is a disaster. It's only when we have people over that it's "all hands on deck" and everything gets cleaned at once. In fact, I think we throw parties for this very reason…
But honestly, I don't want to spend all of my free time cleaning, and I don't think I should have to. I have a child, therefore, my house doesn't need to be perfect. What is Cole going to remember most when he grows up: finger painting, building sand castles, and kicking the soccer ball around with his Mom and Dad? Or having a meticulously cleaned bathroom whose faucets gleam in the afternoon light? I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that he won't give a rat's ass about sparkly fixtures…
Though sometimes, I have to admit, I do cringe at the thought of certain activities because I know they will be messy and require a lot of effort. But I try to remind myself that sometimes you have to push yourself outside of your comfort zone to have fun.
Like last weekend.
I wanted to bake cookies with Cole. I knew I could just do them myself and then have him help me at the very end, but what fun is that? Wouldn't it be so much more fun if I let him scoop the flour (and have it fall all over the floor?) And crack the eggs (and have the shells fall in the bowl?) And then whisk the batter, and have it spray all over the place? Well,it was certainly messy, but it was a lot of fun. It took three times as long, but that's okay, we weren't in a rush. Our kitchen floor was a mess, but the cookies were amazing, but not nearly as amazing as the memories of making them.
As my little boy gets older, there are so many things I look forward to doing with him: building forts in the living room, making homemade pizzas, playing hide-and-go-seek, playing boardgames, water-balloon fights, and tickle fights.
Sorry house. You're just going to have to accept that you are not a priority. I'll keep you clean enough, but the sparkle fantasy you're after might have to wait until I retire…
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