When my husband and I finally realized that our moms were not going to show up and tidy up after us, we had to learn to keep house. For the majority of our lives, we had both grown up in from homes where there were only two children and two parents. An even ratio. I admit it, our moms spoiled us.. rotten.
In the family we have which God created, He has tipped the scales in favor of the children with a 5 to 2 ratio of Messmakers to Messcleaners. Last year, I read on the Catholic Large Family e-group that keeping tidy after a slew of small children is like "Sweeping The Beach." Yes, I couldn't agree more. Clutter, the dishes (I Thank God every time I load my dishwasher!), and don't even get me started on the mountain of laundry.. Life is Laundry.
This winter brought forth some welcome changes. Julian insisted he knew how to do laundry, so now he loads the washer and dryer rather often and it is quite a help! I am waiting for the novelty to wear off. Timothy is a star about putting away the laundry in the correct drawers. A few years ago, when he first learned to write, he "labeled" all of his brother's dresser drawers with their names in crayon because they never seemed to put the correct clothing in the correct drawers.
All four boys help put away the dishes from the dishwasher. Most of the time, they are quite co-operative and helpful. Occasionally, they hear me say "St. Paul says whomever does not work does not eat." Many hands make light work.
Even with all of the help, keeping things in their place, doing laundry for seven and sweeping up the crumbs can be overwhelming to say the least. Last week, I did the best thing I have done in a long time. I avoided the computer for about 36 hours. Clutter didn't stand a chance. I attacked the house with a vengence. My mountain of laundry was wiped out. Yeah, I knew where my laundry was. Flylady would have been so proud of me. The children asked who was coming to visit. "Clean like company's comin'!" No company expected, but if someone wanted to drop by, they could have. For the rest of the week, I set the laundry to wash in the morning and did a second load during the day and I stayed caught up. It felt nothing short of MIRACULOUS! I actually did not need to steal time on Sunday to do some catching up on laundry.
Saturday was Elaina's first sleepover at her grandparent's house. Timothy joined her.. just in case she was homesick. I realized something while they were away. It does not matter if there are three childen or five children, they all still make a mess! We were so happy to have Elaina and Timothy back after their sleepover. I was also grateful, that my husband's parents were coming along to bring them home, because it forced us all to pitch in and do a quick tidy to make our house look a bit less "lived in." Clean like company's comin'!
Another day has gone by now and laundry has piled up from the Lord's Day of Rest. I know just what I am going to do. I am turning off the computer until tonight. It's time to do math with Timothy, Phonics with Maximilian , Science with Julian, read some fun stories, make a treat and have some tea, and figure out dinner for seven to be ready at 4:30 before the first baseball and T-Ball practices of the season this evening. I know where my laundry is. I also know where the off button on this computer is..
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3 comments:
Oh Kristina, this is such a good post for me to read! It is encouraging to me how much your kiddos help out and how you are not afraid to turn the computer off when necessary. Bravo! I might just have to try it myself sometime! :)
Becky,
Thank you for the kind comment. If only I had the diligence to turn off the computer more often than I do!
God Bless you and yours!
This post sums up life in our home. I keep hoping one of my children will turn out to be an especially neat type, you know, the kind of kid who be so meticulous and organized that he or she will start cleaning up after me! So far, we haven't a one though!
Now, I really must find that "off" switch you speak of.
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