Life is messy

You know life with four kids is messy and chaotic and recently it’s been getting me down a bit. I feel like I can’t quite catch up to the getting stuff done I was doing before Anthony was born. You know, back when I didn’t have a nursing baby pinning me down to a chair for several hours each day.

But recently I found a blog that’s been helping me get a sense of perspective. I don’t often add new blogs to my reading list. There are so many good ones out there but my time is limited. I already spend more time than I should on this here computer. But Dwija at UD too and we have zillions of friends in common.) 

Anyway, yesterday I read this great post she wrote about how Sometimes life is messy and it hit me right between the eyes. Especially these words: “Those toys strewn all about belong to the boy who is playing instead of watching. The boy who is learning to pick up his own messes, but in the meantime is busy….”

Yep, I’ve been letting the messes get to me recently. In fact, this week I let it get to me to the point that I sort of gave up even trying.  Why bother picking up when it’s just going ot get messy again? Why bother trying to keep things in any kind of order when I’m never going to make any progress at the decluttering I so desperately need to do?

But when I think of the mess as an alternative to the worlds that my kids could be living in—the world where they are neat because they’re watching tv. Or the one where it’s neat because there are no kids—Ok. I’ll take the mess. I’ll look at it and see the games where they were pretending to be princesses and nuns. The games where they were pretending to make food because they live in a house where food is primarily something that is cooked not something that comes from a box or a drive through. And that’s why there are dishes in the sink and crumbs on the floor. Because we’re busy living here. And by golly it’s a good life!

So fueled by acceptance of the messiness of life, I found new energy to clean today. I vacuumed the kitchen and living room and dining room and the bedrooms. I washed the rugs in the kitchen. And I washed the sheets on our bed. It isn’t huge. There are still piles of baby clothes to be sorted and all that. But it feels better. So my thanks to Dwija for this week’s kick me in the pants.

And really do go check out her blog. She’s so funny and courageous and inspirational. Not in a Thomas Kincaid on a Hallmark card way but in a I guess sometimes Jesus wears polyester shorts kind of way. Also in a Jesus is a woman with curly red hair kind of way. Not to mention funny. Did I tell you she’s funny? You’ll laugh and then you’ll want to go buy some goats and build a chicken coop and rip out your kitchen. Or maybe even move to Michigan. Really.