Ever since my return from the LDS Storymakers Writers Conference, I have been spending hours and hours every day on my laptop. I've been spending the majority of my time writing and editing, therefore some of my normal daily chores got pushed aside.
The first things on the list to go were cleaning and vacuuming each day. Then dishes began stacking themselves not only in one sink, but in both sinks before getting put into the dishwasher. Finally, came the comments from my kids, “Mom, I don't have any clean jeans left.” And another from my hubby, “Honey, are there any clean whites?” Both of these came about a day apart—and of course, as they are trying to get ready for the day with no time to throw a load into the washing machine.
Before you think I'm a terrible wife and mom, I should tell you that my hubby and I talked about this before I re-prioritized my schedule. As always, our family comes first—so getting everyone to school and preschool, soccer and track, talent show practices, etc. That all stayed into our schedules like they had been previously. Together, my hubby and I figured out all the logistics of how to keep our family going and try to keep our house in order. And we agreed that if things got messy, we'd just shrug our shoulders and wait until our family chores on Saturday mornings to get everything back in order. My hubby has gone the extra mile by coming home from work and emptying and folding the clothes that were in the dryer, then throwing in a new load.
But sometimes there's a kink thrown in. Like last week, my hubby had a very demanding work schedule. I remember him leaving for work on Monday . . . but don't remember seeing very much of him again until Saturday morning. It's weeks like this that our house goes haywire, clothes go missing, and we scramble to find clean plates for dinner.
This morning, I took a really good look at my house. I realized the bathrooms hadn't been cleaned for a month—which is totally scary considering the three boys who use them. For some reason, my sons can't just stand there and go potty. No. They think it's too boring. So they like to see how many designs they can make in the water before their ammo runs out. Which leads to very yucky toilets and bathroom walls. There was dirt tracked all across our playroom floor. Apparently some kiddios haven't been taking their shoes off when they come in the house like they're supposed to. Another rule to remind them of, especially now that spring is in full effect and they are constantly in and out of the house.
After taking status of my house, I looked over at my laptop and yearned to open it up. But instead guilt kicked in and took over. I marched up the stairs, filled my bucket with cleaning supplies, grabbed the vacuum, and got to work. I deep cleaned the playroom, the stairs and entry way, the dining room, and especially all three of our bathrooms. And I completed it all before high noon.
As a reward, I pulled out some pizza for lunch. Mmm . . . the best thing about burning all those calories is replenishing them with something very yummy.
Of course, having most of my house sparkling again is a great reward too. I just wonder how long it will last once my two oldest get home from school.
