Truth of The Mess Is...

Okay, as I mention in my "About Me" section, I'm a mom. I'd like to think I'm a decent one too - not Pinterest Perfect by any means, but I get the job done. There is one job, however, that often seems to never be done - CLEANING! I am having a hard time understanding how parents of multiple children are able to keep their houses spick and span sparkly clean all the time! I just have my 2 kids, The Princess and The Ninja (3 1/2 and 1 respectively) yet I can't seem to keep up with them, especially the Ninja since he started walking.

Just since this morning, the Ninja has emptied my kitchen towel drawer 3 times, pulled out all of my pots and pans, climbed on top of my computer desk and stole my pizza while my back was turned (resulting in pieces of half chewed pizza all over in the carpet from when he ran away from me), ripped up 3 pages of the Princess's coloring book, pulled all of the DVD's out of the shelf twice, and has emptied about half of the toy box and thrown all of his toys in various parts of the house while running around squealing. Then you add the Princess into the mix, who insists that every item of her pretend kitchen stash has to be emptied and on the floor to have a tea party (the Ninja threw those too) and emptied half of the wipes pretending to change her baby's diaper (which the Ninja also ripped up and spread around). By the time I get one mess cleaned up, there are 4 more waiting for me.

Of course then you have the people who say "A messy house is a sign of happy children" or "Don't mind the mess, the children are making memories" and stuff like that. Well...that's okay to a point, yes, but there's a point where that can't really pass anymore. Like when that mess includes things that children are slipping/tripping on or eating that they shouldn't be. Then it's probably not just a "sweet little memory mess" or whatever. Like if I don't sweep under the Ninja's high chair at least 12 times a day, then he goes back and goes on a treasure hunt to find whatever he dropped earlier that he can now try to choke on. Or when the Princess decides to take off her Barbie's shoes or tiaras and the Ninja thinks "Hmm, I should chew on that" then it's probably a good idea to pick up. And you never really know when they've done something like that because if you leave the big stuff out then the little things are hidden to you but available to them.

Ugh, there's no winning. You either stress to keep a clean house and your kids are grouchy because you keep cleaning up their messes, or you stress over a dirty house because you have no idea what is in that pile of toys plus the added stress of a husband who comes home from work and says "So what have you guys done today?" (which is a very dangerous question to ask a stay at home mom, just a fair warning). Anyone else feel the same way? Am I just crazy? Please tell me that someone out there empathizes with me!

M.