Well another weekend has come and gone. I can’t believe it will soon be the end of July! Gosh time is passing quickly. Sometimes it seems like there are just not enough hours in the day and you can’t get everything done. Another time the day just drags on endlessly!
So instead of cleaning house this weekend like I normally do, I decided to just not get all stressed and flustered and worry about how clean my surroundings are. Instead I took my two younger ones to the pool to have some fun! What fun it was.
Amanda, my 3 year old, is now quite efficient in the water. She told me to go sit down while she paddles off by herself to the other side of the pool! Can you imagine that?! I told her no way. Although she does have the floaters (for kids) that you put on your arms, and goggles to prevent the water from burning her eyes, I was taking no chances.
She might think she’s so good but she still has a lot to learn. I’m trying to teach her water safety and what to do if she should fall in. I’m just glad that now I could crawl beside her without having to hold her up because she can now dog paddle and did the full length of the pool non-stop several times! One thing about her is when she loves something, she wants to do it continuously until she tires (and she doesn’t know her limits) or until I say enough. Otherwise she would still be in the water!
I did eventually get around to doing a little house cleaning though, not as detailed as I should have, just enough to make the place look decent.
If you’re like me and don’t get around to cleaning as often as you should. And it makes it more difficult when you have younger children in the household to keep clean because of toys, coloring books and all and sundry of what they feel they must be elbow deep in! Sometimes I complain about it to them, but the culprit is usually Amanda. There are times she will pick up her toys (letting them learn to do so early is good) and other times I just let her do what she wants to then I clean up before going to bed. And I’m usually all tuckered out by the time I’m done!
When it comes to my two older children, Jessica and Adam, it’s almost impossible to get them to keep their rooms clean. Jessica’s just on the last leg of cleaning up her room which has been messy and I mean messy – you couldn’t see the floor because of clothes and books and papers! She’s done with summer school and I told her she has no excuse. Then I used the best threat ever, no new clothes for the new school year! That’s what got her going. For Adam all I had to say was no presents for birthday (his is next month)! I know it’s sneaky but a mom’s gotta do what a mom’s gotta do! Hehehee.
I always tell them that I’m not asking them to do it everyday but just keep it looking decent. Instead of throwing clothes on the floor, hang up, fold and put away or toss in the hamper. Just little quick stuff that won’t take a lot of work; spread the bed, get rid of clothes, pick up stuff off the floor and vacuum. That’s it!
Keeping house is hard work. Sometimes I feel lazy too and don’t want to do it but I have to…eventually! I usually do the deep cleaning like wiping walls, dusting, polishing and other detailed cleaning every six weeks or before if it’s really, really necessary. That’s when I go room to room and do it all. There’s no way I’m doing it more often.
Cleaning is tiresome and it just takes too much time so I know just how they feel. I much prefer to spend every moment that I can spend with them having fun!