Change your attitude.
I read that on a sign in Senor Frogs last year. I liked it so much, I took a picture. I don't know to whom I should attribute the quote, but I think it's a terrific sentiment.
I thought of this again today. You see, I have a husband and 5 sons and no matter how long I wait or how many coins I toss in the fountain at the mall Alice, Florence, Mary Poppins not even Uncle Charlie have arrived at my door to help with the mopping, the de-cluttering, the laundry or the bathroom scrubbing (and there's a lot of bathroom scrubbing around here...5 sons, remember...although to be fair, Isaiah is only 2 and still in diapers.)
I know, I know..they can all help, and they do..some. But they all have a far higher tolerance for mess and much lower standard of clean. I have been trying to ignore the mess, because if I ignored it long enough, someone else would swoop in and save the day from the evils of housekeeping, right? Ummm..wrong. Nagging and pointed comments, even the occasional rant still didn't inspire a crew of "Mr. Clean" wannabes.
So, today I changed my attitude and embraced the housekeeping and, even if I do say so myself, the house looks really nice. :) And...don't pass out but, seeing mom picking up and cleaning seemed to inspire the boys to willingly clean up their own stuff. (Ok, that should be a no-brainer, we'll save that issue for another day.) While I was doing all ths scrubbing the husband was working on getting the basement organized. With luck, we'll have order all around soon..and maybe even keep up with it.
I stopped hoping someone else would swoop in and clean for me..that situation wasn't going to change (although I do hope I can get the boys to be a little more tidy). I did change my attitude. Why shouldn't I clean it? I mean, while I'm all about equality, the reality is that I am a SAHM and I like it. More time for eating bon bons, don't ya know? ;) While my husband will do household chores, he isn't home much, bringing home the bacon and all.
Anyway, I decided to embrace my life, as mundane and well, kind of gender stereotypical and it wasn't that bad. In fact, it was rather fulfilling. :)
Hi Stacey! I have to remind myself of that same fact. I'm a SAHM and my husband works HARD to support our family. I should do the same, despite the fact that I don't get paid for the work I do.
ReplyDeleteI do admire all that you do with 5 boys, as opposed to my 1 girl. I'd say that you're far from eating bon bons all day, even if nothing in the house gets "cleaned up". Heck, there are days when I feel like I'm running myself ragged and worry that my husband will come home from work and wonder what I did all day, since all the dishes are still sitting in the sink and the place is still a disaster.
I think we have to forgive ourselves on those days and then set the example another day. We're working on a chore chart this summer and I have to say, it's working fairly well. I do have to still prompt to get things started (and sometimes I still have to prompt her to go back to the chart and see if things still need doing), but it's a process. Just as in adults, habits take time to build. We're still in that building phase. :)