Please Excuse the Tidiness
I saw a poster on Pinterest this week that said, ‘please excuse the mess, the children are making memories’, shortly after I found another sign that read, ‘good moms have sticky floors, dirty ovens and happy kids’. To be honest I’m a little offended by the notion that if I choose to maintain a clean and tidy house then my kids will suffer.
We build lots of memories with the kids, this weekend we built forts in the lounge (multiple), made towers and cafes for my daughter’s toys, read books, splashed in the bath with ducks and water pistols, had tickle fights and drew pictures. I also tidied, dusted, swept and hoovered, put out the recycling and did 2 lots of washing, does my completing those tasks negate the fun we had with the kiddos?
I do as much of the house work as I can first thing in the morning so we have the rest of the day free for playing. I try and get Annie involved with the chores if she’s in the mood and she normally loves helping with the laundry and dusting. If she doesn’t want to help then it’s a good time for her to play independently or pester her baby brother! I think it’s important for her to learn about priorities, that if there are things that need doing then do them first so you can then kick back and relax.
In the same vein I try and get her to put away one lot of toys before she gets out anther set as I’ve found if there’s too much choice spread over the floor she gets overwhelmed and stops playing altogether.
Don’t get me wrong, my house is not picture perfect 24/7, there are normally a pile books on the floor by the bookcase, muslins draped over the furniture and a Peppa Pig toy somewhere on the floor just waiting for you to step on it, but underneath the mess it’s clean, and a two minute hustle on the tidying will usually get the place looking smart again.
I do not believe that a child is any happier growing up in a dirty / messy house then they are in a tidy one, providing they still get all the love and attention they need, and no signs on Pinterest are going to change my mind!
Nicely put! I like to maintain a tidy and clean house as well. I feel it’s unhealthy to bring up children in dirt and at some point they will need to clean their own home, so why not instill that sense of pride in their surroundings at an early age. We seem to be bombarded with either ideals of perfect working mums, who find the time to look fabulous, keep an immaculate home and bring up perfect children OR we are told that if we take 5 minutes to tidy up then we are neglecting our kids!
I don’t really think that was the message meant, I have seen those saying several times before, and it always meant to me especially when having a new baby that you shouldn’t stress out about having a perfect house and it’s more important that you aren’t stressed and spend quality time with your baby. If you have time to do both then great!
Em, I couldn’t agree more! I feel that people who said a messy/dirty home = happy children needed an excuse for not cleaning! It’s my choice to keep my home clean for my children and in doing so teaching them valuable life skills. I grew up in a clean home and I am very happy and have lovely childhood memories.