Making messes is what children do best. A friend and I recently commented to one another about how we clean our homes and turn around and they are dirty again. I have a 2 and 4 year old - she has 3 year old twins. I know the popular quote, "Good moms have sticky floors, messy kitchens, laundry piles, dirty ovens, and happy kids," and I try to keep this in mind, but a dirty house stresses me out!
Monday is my main cleaning day around here. I do laundry, straighten, do the dishes, and things like that every day, but on Mondays I do things like clean the bathrooms, dust and vacuum, mop the floors, etc... Why Monday? The house is usually a wreck from the weekend and this is the only day that my 4 year old still takes a nap, so I know I can get a lot done.
Today is a Monday. My plan was to get some Christmas decorating done, but that hasn't happened yet. (The day is not over). I woke up at 6am (latest I've slept in a while) to the sound of little children begging for Halloween candy and a movie. You would seriously think we deprive them of these things if you heard their pleas. When I stumbled out of my room as my husband headed for the shower I found that the kids had helped themselves to some pumpkin muffins my MIL made for us, and had gotten some cups and filled them with water from the fridge button. I soon realized one of them (I suspected my 2 year old) had stuffed half of his muffin in between two of the couch cushions. So, after I ate breakfast myself and packed a lunch for my husband, the first chore marked off the list for cleaning today was taking the cushions off of our two couches and assisting my 2 year old in the process of vacuuming the crumbs. This was a good excuse to do something that needs to be done occasionally anyway, I told myself, and Weston enjoyed feeling helpful. I took the opportunity for positive reinforcement and let him know that he was a great helper and cleaner. He was super proud of himself!
I then gave the kids a bath. They like to play in there for a little while, so I started a load of laundry and swept the kitchen floor while going back and forth a few times to break up fights and remind them not to splash all of the water in the floor.
Shortly after getting them out and putting clean clothes on them for the day Weston urinated in a puddle in the kitchen floor. I should back up and say that he is potty trained when wearing a pull-up, but for some reason when I put underwear on him he forgets to go use the potty (I know the purpose of this is for my sanctification, because I went through this same ordeal when Alivia was 2, so I have all the patience I need for these kinds of things now - ha!) He normally doesn't wear underwear for this reason, but today when he asked me if he could, with his sweet little dimply face, I agreed (against my better judgement) because we weren't planning on going anywhere today. I was thankful it happened on the tile kitchen floor (before I mopped) and not the carpet, and quickly cleaned it up, cleaned him up, and got him some fresh clothes to wear.
It was time for a snack. Alivia had asked me for some V8 splash juice before her bath and I had forgotten. I fixed both of them some juice, Alivia some spiderman cheezits, and Weston a couple of fig newtons. Alivia finished first and was tickling Weston as he finished his juice, when all of a sudden his lid came off and juice went all over him and the floor. Thank goodness, once again, it was on the tile floor and I had not mopped yet. I tried to remain calm as I cleaned up he and the floor and picked out his 3rd outfit of the morning...
I let the children play together while I did the dishes, mopped the kitchen floor, wiped down the kitchen table chairs, and did another load of laundry.
It was time for lunch. The kids and I ate sandwiches, peanut butter crackers, apples, and water, while watching Calilou - Monday is about the only day we get to watch this show and they really like it! While I was cleaning up the kitchen from lunch I noticed Alivia crouched behind the couch and obviously doing something she knew she wasn't supposed to be doing, so I walked over there and asked her what was going on. She didn't want to tell me, but I saw the wet spot on the rug. Not wanting to miss her show, she had an accident. Really!?! I thought to myself. This hasn't happened in over a year with her. Twice in one day? And on a Monday? As I sprayed and scrubbed the rug, and cleaned my daughter, and got her some clean clothes to wear I prayed aloud for patience (I do this often) and said things to myself like... stay calm, gentle and quiet spirit, children are a blessing, kind words, grace...
Monday is also when sheets get changed, so after changing the sheets on the kids beds, we read a bedtime story and went down for a nap. Alivia and I have this new deal where she stays in her bed and is quiet for one hour of rest time and after an hour I will come and check on her. If she is asleep I let her sleep and if she is awake I let her come out and do a box activity (explanation of that coming in a later post). She got up to use the bathroom once while I was in the shower, but then went back down and ended up falling asleep.
I was checking my facebook messages and emails, when I came across this post a sweet friend emailed me today about parenting entitled Are You Ready To Have Kids? While reading it I was laughing so hard I cried and had to share it because it was the inspiration for this post.
Weston woke up and we went to wake Alivia up since she had been asleep for 2 hours. They get a snack of fruit when they wake up and they both wanted apple again even though we had that for lunch. Then they wanted a banana. They got to watch "Jake" while I got dinner going. This is proof that I'm not making all this up...
I write all of this out in hopes that you will find some humor in the delight of homemaking and parenting. The funny thing is, I consider today a really good day. The kids were both in good moods, they played pretty well together, and I got a lot accomplished. What's for dinner tonight? I just texted the husband and asked him to get a Rotisserie chicken from Kroger on the way home and I am making green beans and frozen sweet potato fries. Something quick and easy - we've got some Christmas decorating to do! :)
And because I think it's so wonderful, here's a link to a free printable from Ann Voskamp - 10 Points of Joyful Parenting
This was an encouraging post, thanks for sharing. I have a 9 and 7 year old that I homeschool along with a 2 year old who keeps me on my toes.
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