I mentioned the other day on the fb group page that I feel like we have a pretty good handle on running our household. I should clarify that that doesn’t necessarily mean that everything is always in its place and sparkling clean, all the time. Yes, we have a good routine that works for us and things can hum along pretty smoothly when there are no outstanding or special circumstances (which is just the way life works!). It also means that I have come to a place where “good enough” can really mean “good enough” as far as my expectations go. If the house is picked up enough to be presentable and comfortable, then I’ve learned that that is good enough because that is all our energy or time allows for, knowing that it isn’t because we were being lazy or idle, but because that was the best we could do at the time. There are toys strewn on the floor because we are all spending time together in the family room, and the babies are playing contentedly at our feet, while the little boys have their Lego figures on the couch and are engaged in their own play, dad and I are having a conversation with the teens/grown kids, and the middle girls are either reading or playing shopkins together. Yes, there are toys and books out being used. The dinner dishes are done and dishwasher running, the counters are clean and floor swept. Who cares if the casserole pan needs to soak instead of us spending one more half hour scrubbing it? It can soak in the sink so we can have time together. The kitchen is “clean enough” to not be disgusting, even if my sink isn’t completely empty and shined. The dryer buzzed, but I left it until the morning, when I have more energy and can fold before the kids wake up. As a homemaker, these are always things going through our minds, and we have the privilege of being able to make the decision about what is more important at the moment. We chose to work together to get the majority of the work done so that we could have some time together to decompress before bedtimes.
To me, that is what my homemaking job is about. Yes, we can find joy and fulfillment in the work we do, and we should, but it is about the people we love and care for and serve. We tell the children, “let’s get the dinner clean up done so we can go hang out together.” Of course it’s not always perfect! We have days where there is resistance–someone just doesn’t feel like it, someone doesn’t want to finish their food and so we are all waiting, cranky babies, bad days at work, interruptions, overloaded outside activities (which need to be re-evaluated and reigned in periodically), etc.
Anyway, I rambled and probably didn’t make any sense, lol!
