Yesterday the boys and I cleaned and cleaned and cleaned. "Deep cleaning," "spring cleaning," whatever you want to call it. Maybe it's stuff you do all the time, but I'm grateful when I just get the laundry and toys put away and the kitchen cleaned, the floors vacuumed, etc. So cleaning baseboards and walls and sweeping under all the couches constitutes deep cleaning for me.
There are moments the next day you wonder why you bothered, since it gets dirty again soon...but you feel better knowing that for a few days at least the couches are clean, even if you can't see them.
I think, too, that during a week when it feels like everything is out of my control, from the happenings in Japan and Libya and my husband's job situation at least my little household space was something I could control. If only for a day. Joseph is actually a great cleaner and helper and a fun companion. Theo- well, it's a little harder since I'm trying to keep him out of the cleaning supplies. But we manage.
Do you feel like things are out of your control? What do you do to keep some sense of balance in your life?
4 comments:
YMCA! 2 hours of weight training and cardio burns off a lot of stress PLUS the kids are having fun doing art, reading books, playing with other kids. Our YMCA has a wii for the older kids, so I never have to buy one. For $90 bucks a month, it's a steal! No wii for me to buy, no preschool registration, AND a gym membership:)
My intellectual brain knows that pretty much everything is out of my control, but I'm a control freak by nature and it rarely gets the best of me. I guess that means my kids rarely get the best of me either....Hmmmm. Learning to let go is probably the best thing we can do but boy does it feel good to get stuff done!
The thing that drives me crazy are chores that need to happen every day or week .. you know, the ones that are really never done? I try to do one thing that I can say is "done, done" a day, but often that doesn't happen. It's on those days where I have to remind myself of something I read in a blog: "Changing Lives One Laundry at a Time: We're not taking care of stuff; we're taking care of people." That helps me feel in control. Also, writing down that one thing that bugs me (picking up that unmatched sock ~again~) and then crossing it off after I've done it, helps me feel some control :O)
Wow, coming over here and reading some of your more recent posts, it's crazy how similar our thought processes have been... and I've really appreciated reading some of your thoughts and feelings about everything. I'm so sorry for the trial you're facing... a year is such a long time to carry the burden of unemployment. My sister and her husband are in a similar situation and it breaks my heart not being able to help them more. I hope relief comes soon for your little family. Hang on... good things are bound to come.
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