A Little Venting

I just finished this post, and it's pretty long.  Only the die-hard will make it through this one.  

Let me preface my remarks by saying that I am very grateful to be a mom, and that I get to stay home with my children.  I find so much of it very fulfilling and hugely rewarding.  However, I think any stay-at-home-mom will agree with me that it is REALLY hard.  

One friend of mine put it this way:  

"Most of the trials in my life come from my blessings."  

To illustrate:  I don't mop my floor as often as I should, so when I do, it's a big deal to me.  I feel so proud when it's done.  Just preparing the floor for mopping is a big deal--it's like a race with the kids to see if I can sweep it all up before somebody comes along to spill something else on it.  Well, yesterday, I swept the floor, mopped the floor, and even washed all the rugs in the kitchen and the one by the back door.  I'd say about 30 minutes after it was all done, the chairs pushed back around the table, and the clean rugs back in place, Daphne came in from walking around in the mud with her bare feet, and thoroughly wiped her dirty, muddy feet all over the rug I had just taken out of the dryer.  I just stood there staring at the rug with my mouth hanging open.  Dallin followed her without even pausing to wipe his feet, and started tracking mud on my clean floor.  I stopped him after three steps and marched him straight back outside to take his shoes off. 

Now I know that lots of moms out there can relate;  it's just part of life, right?  I mean that's what that rug is there for, right?  Daphne was doing a good job, wiping her dirty feet on  . . . .  my freshly . . .  cleaned . . . rug.  

But yesterday, this experience just captured the epitome of my frustrations lately:  So much of what I do everyday is not permanent.  It feels like the things I spend my time on throughout the day just get undone, one by one.  I do the laundry, and at the end of the day, there are dirty clothes again in the baskets.  I empty the dishwasher to make room for yet another load.  I go grocery shopping, and the next week I have to go again.  I mop the floor, and and the next meal it's a sticky mess again.  I could spend all day following the little ones around, keeping the house picked up, and clutter-free and when the older ones get home from school, and Arthur home from work, and they all add their contributions to it, it looks like it was never clean in the first place.  

Essentially, what I spend hours on during the day, can all be undone in 5 minutes.  

That is so frustrating.  

I know I should be grateful for the laundry because it means we have clothes to wear, the dishes because it means we have food on the table, the toys because it means we have children filling our home with laughter . . . . and muddy footprints :)  But I guess I have a hard time remembering it in the moment of destruction.  

Something else that would help me, is to remember this wise advise from my friend, and former Visiting Teacher, Merideth.  She shared this with me during one of her visits and it has always stuck with me, (though sometimes not as often as I wish it would).

Do something permanent each day; 

Something that doesn't get undone in the same day.  

It could be writing in a journal, keeping in touch with friends, reading to your children or reading the scriptures, (some of these things are done everyday, but they are never undone,)  working on a creative project, (a sewing project, a scrapbook page, the sky's the limit) home improvement projects: organizing a closet--(that usually doesn't get undone in the same day, but I guess on a really bad day . . . well, who can say?)  painting, planting a garden, beautifying a space,  or finally putting pictures in those empty  picture frames.  The days that I have done something permanent, I feel a lot happier than the days I spend too much time cleaning, and then five minutes after everyone gets home, it looks like someone picked up my house and gave it a good shake.  

So, after that very long thought process, here are my conclusions:  

 

1) Remember to be grateful--I really am lucky that most of my trials do stem from my blessings.

2) Do something permanent every day, even if that means limiting the amount of time I spend cleaning.  (That shouldn't be too hard, seeing as how I don't particularly love cleaning.)

3) Don't underestimate the influence you have as a Visiting Teacher.  You never know when something you share with a sister, may just stick with her for quite awhile and maybe, just maybe, even make it on her blog.  :)

And now that this is all off my chest, I feel like a new woman all ready to do lots of laundry tomorrow!