A couple of years ago, before I become a mother, I saw this photo (and many variations of it) on Pinterest:
And I thought to myself,
"Um, NO. When I have kids, the house will be clean. They will NOT play in filth and when they are old enough, they will clean up after themselves!"
Fast forward to last week, when I captured these shots of my home:
Needless to say, I am eating my words. Err...my thoughts. As much as I enjoy having a clean house, and try to keep a clean house, it becomes one of life's biggest challenges once you become a parent. I am fortunate enough to be able to work from home and be with my son. But finding time to clean, take care of myself, pick up after my husband and maintain a household is quite difficult. I have always believed that memories are more important than money, which is why I have tried to maintain this work/life balance with the emphasis on spending time with my family.
I know this is a very common struggle with moms everywhere- finding time to spend with our babies and hubbies, while also making time for ourselves. We want to snuggle with our little ones, have intimacy with our spouses and have lots of laughs with our ladies. But in reality, I find that the time I spend with my son trumps any time spent with my husband or my girlfriends....or cleaning my house. And that isn't because I don't
want to spend time with the others. It's that the daily requirements of this mommy gig are many. Between diaper changes, play dates and trying to get the laundry done, I am lucky if I can squeeze in what I call "lightning lunches" and "presto poops." My days are hectic and tiring, and when I do have the chance for a break, sleep often wins over cleaning.
So now when I see that photo on Pinterest, I laugh because I get it. Finally,
I.get.it. And I will choose memories and messes any day over missed moments and mopped floors.
What about you? How do you keep sane while trying to balance it all?