Running on - running on empty...
...Running on - running blind
Running on - Running into the sun
But I'm running behind
-Jackson Browne
Yesterday morning, after arriving for work 15 mins late (yet again!) I asked my friend, "Does it ever get any better? Am I EVER going to get it together again?" She gives me a blank stare. "You know - am I ever going to have a reasonably clean house? A kitchen counter that isn't covered in mail? Get out of the house in the morning without spending 30 minutes searching for my keys?"
She looks at me in that way that only a true friend can, and gives me the only true, honest answer to that ridiculous question:
"No. It just gets worse as they get older."
Seriously? Please tell me she's wrong. When they are old enough to pick up their own toys, they will, right?! (Shut up, I can hear you laughing.) Eventually, he'll stop creating gigantic piles of laundry, right? (Who am I kidding?) I feel like I'm running up the down escalator. I have to keep going just to stay in the same place. I stop for a second to catch my breath, and suddenly I'm heading back to the bottom again.
And it's not just a clean house I'm after, though that would be nice. It's the feeling of having it under control - that I know what I'm supposed to be doing this week, I've got something in the fridge I can cook for dinner when I get home, I have clothes in the closet that fit, and I have a little free time in the evenings to enjoy my adorable kid and wonderful husband.
There are lots of other moms who really appear to have it all together, and I count my honest friend among them. These women never leave the house with their hair falling out of a ponytail and spit up stains on their shirts. They can pay their bills on time because the bills aren't buried beneath election junk mail (remember the election was 2 weeks ago!). They take the time to clip coupons - and use them. They go shopping and buy cute Christmas gifts for their kids well before December 24. And somehow, they manage to squeeze in 40 hours of work outside the house, and still get a chance to vacuum the carpet!
So, all you "Got it together" Moms ... what's your secret?!
Posted at 09:10AM Nov 18, 2008 by Jen Foster in General | Comments[6]
Jen, Jen, Jen, Jen, Even the Moms that you think have it together, don't. We hate to admit it but most of us are hanging on by a thread. Would it make you feel better to know that I was 15 minutes late for Gabe's speech appointment and "yelled" my kids into the car. Oh right, probably not because I've never pretended to have it together. Just want to let you know that you aren't alone.
Posted by TOOJ on November 18, 2008 at 08:53 PM EST #
Nope, sorry to tell you but it does just get worse the older the get. They do help pick up but more times than not, they have left for school with their dance shoes in the same place they dropped them when they came home the night before. And the laundry, the piles never go away but the bright side is that as they get older, they don't mind living out of the laundry basket because they don't want to fold the clothes. Even with almost 11 years of experience under my belt, I still don't have it together and admit I never will.
And just remember, the ones who appear to have it all together are the ones who loose it in private. To be so secure to not have to maintain that appearance is what it is all about. Hugs!!!
Posted by Marcy McWhorter on November 20, 2008 at 09:54 PM EST #
Remember the wise words of this poem from 1958. (Google it for the rest of the poem.) Keep being the wonderful mother that you are and the rest will take care of itself.
Love, Mom
Cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
For children grow up, as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.
Posted by Mom on November 20, 2008 at 10:57 PM EST #
Your mom has hit the nail right on the head. Your most important job is to be the best mom you can be. Having an unkept and unclean house drives me up the wall but it is far more important that I love on P and spend as much time with him as possible to soak up every second I have with him that it is to have everything neat and in perfect order. Working from home and having an awesome hubby that helps out a lot allows me to be the mom I am.
Posted by Bethany Watkins on November 21, 2008 at 02:34 PM EST #
I think you're a great mom - but from one McLean to another, PERFECTION IS BORING !!! Why DO we try to do it all? In the end, it's all about the people (family, friends). Hang in there ~ Love, AJ
Posted by AJ on November 21, 2008 at 07:44 PM EST #
LOL! Jen, I've wondered on-and-off all day about what on earth you would have written about me on your blog. I'm finally able to get on and read, and, in fact, you ARE writing about me. Except I'm not even on the escalator -- I've given up and am sitting at the bottom with my chin propped in my hands wondering if there is a secret elevator somewhere! Drop by my house any time you need to feel better about your own housekeeping skills!
Posted by Amy Galvan on November 24, 2008 at 12:02 AM EST #