Spring Cleaning

As spring approaches I have found myself getting extremely excited while at the same time slightly discouraged. I'm excited for warm weather, days spent playing outside with my very cooped up kiddos, attempting to grow our own organic fruits (which if all works out will save us money), oh and did mention warm weather. Unfortunately, I have allowed my spirit of excitement to be reduced or even eliminated at times by some of friends on Facebook whose statuses have been all about "spring cleaning". Talk of cleaning cupboards, dusting the house, etc when I barely get all of my dishes done every day an have (in fact in the last week gone out to eat twice so that I didn't have to do the mountain of dishes waiting for me in the sink), has been to say the least discouraging. I will then go into a crazy perfectionist mood swings where everything has to be in perfect order and in its place. If you know my family at all you know this does not last long as having an almost 3 year old (in just a few days), and 15month old who is extremely mobile along with all the "equipment" or junk; as I sometimes affectionately call their tows, leads to very little order throughout my house for more than a millisecond. I then once again become discouraged, consider hiring someone to come do my "spring cleaning" for me, think about my dreaded bathroom which desperately needs scrubbed, and resort to sitting on the couch sifting through Facebook posts, checking e-mail, and overall just avoiding even the necessary household chores that come up. Well today will sifting through this e-mail, I came across a very encouraging e-mail from MOPS that had included in it an article written by a fellow mom who's been there and done this before as well. So here is that article for your encouragement and viewing pleasure as well............

The Case for Messy

By Christa Hogan, mom of two

Recently I spent a weekend with my little sister at her new home, which she and her husband have lovingly renovated. Everything was spotless and in order. When I returned to my house, I looked around and realized how far I had fallen from my pre-child, neat-freak days.
Sticky handprints decorated my windows and every stainless steel surface. My toddler’s rejected dinners splattered my once-white trim. The decorative pillows on my couch were lumpy and torn. I resolved to improve my housekeeping and set about scrubbing, mopping and sewing. This lasted for several days until I collapsed into bed one night, exhausted, burned out and no closer to my ideal.


"I re-resolved to embrace
the messiness of my life
with all it entails."


I suddenly remembered why I let my housekeeping slide in the first place. Keeping a perfect home with two little boys running around takes huge amounts of energy. I would rather spend mine on my family, friends and passions. Besides, perfectionist me is not much fun. She’s grumpy, worn out and resentful; her work is never done. I re-resolved to embrace the messiness of my life with all it entails.
It didn’t take long for life to test my resolve. Soon after I finished polishing every window in my dining room, my toddler pressed his nose to the glass and pointed at a bird in the sky. “Hawk,” he said excitedly. I congratulated him on his new word and left the nose print for posterity’s sake.


Dear God, please give me your perspective – that I might recognize the important and leave behind the insignificant.