I face the battle I'm sure any stay at home mom faces - or any mom for that matter - the battle to keep the house clean. It's a losing battle on most days for sure. I clean the table. The boys are home for 30 min, and the table is a mess again. I sweep the floor. One meal or snack later, and it looks like it's never been done. I'm trying to teach the boys how to pick up after themselves. Most of the time, they still require reminders and perhaps a little nagging before they do it, and sometimes the hassle of that is not worth it, so the Legos stay on the couch or on the floor. That's how it is today.
But why is it so important to me that I keep the house clean? Besides the obvious - that it's more pleasant to eat on a clean table off of clean dishes, or that it needs to be done eventually, so I might as well stay on top of it. But why have I become so compulsive about it? Could it be that I have defined myself too much by how clean my house is, judging the job I am doing by how few dishes are in the sink? Could I be looking for that pat on the back from my husband or kids, saying how good I am at being a stay at home mom? Perhaps someday the kids will come home and say, "Mom, good job getting that stain off the white countertop" or "Wow, the bathroom sure is clean this afternoon." Perhaps not.
