I am so excited to introduce you to Allie from the purposeful housewife. I enjoy reading Allie’s blog and have been encouraged by her candid honesty and today’s post is no exception! She shares her personal struggle, but I think all moms have probably struggled with something similar! I hope you are encouraged by her words today! –Paula
Confession: I’d rather be cleaning.
I am a get-it-done type of person. I make lists, I cross things off of them, and I like feeling accomplished at the end of each day. Of course, I have my days in which I struggle with motivation and battle laziness, but overall I make things happen. As a stay-at-home mom of three, my task lists consist of wiping, dusting, scrubbing, folding, cleaning, organizing, planning, cooking, driving and preparing. At the end of a long day, I find myself tucking my bathed kids into their beds, and collapsing on the couch with my husband.
Notice anything missing from this seemingly perfect, mundane day in my life? This question leads to me to my mommy confession. I don’t spend quality time with my children. Oh sure, I’m at home with them. I don’t work, I am in the house with them. I am talking to them, caring for their physical needs, kissing their boo-boo’s, and making their meals. What I am failing to do is connect with them, feed their souls. The thing is, this is hard for me! I love having a perfectly clean home. I love feeling like things are in order and taken care of. I would rather clean than sit and play, because it usually leads to me feeling unaccomplished at the end of the day. This is a heart issue that needs to be healed.
These are my babies! God Himself chose me with purpose to be their mother. He knew I would be the very best at raising them. I am to bring them up in the way of His holy Word. Yet here I am, more concerned about having clean counters and swept floors! Yes, keeping a clean home and dressers full of clean clothes is important, a responsibility of mine as a housewife. However, the problem exists when I place these chores higher on the priority list than nurturing my family.
So, when it comes down to doing one or the other- cleaning or sitting down to play Legos with my son- the right choice needs to be made. I must balance my life and duties.
Remember, when your children are grown, they are not going to have precious memories about playing by themselves on a squeaky-clean floor. They are going to either resent you for shooing them off to keep busy, or adore you for sitting on the messy floor connecting with them. The choice is yours to make every day. Choose wisely and with joy, friends!
Allie is a young wife married to her childhood friend and high school sweetheart. They are raising three littles together- Bella, 3, Leland, 1, and Hudson, 5 months. When she is not reading, writing, cleaning, baking treats or reading stories to her wee ones, she can probably be found playing with her cat, Ichabod or jogging in the park. She loves Jesus with her whole heart and has a desire to inspire. You can read about her and follow along with her life at her blog, where she writes (with raw honesty) as The Purposeful Housewife.
The Proverbs 31 Sanctuary says
Thank you for your honesty, I too struggle with this. I pray that you find comfort in the Lord and he changes your heart easily as I hope he does mine.
Pamela says
I struggled with this when my children were young. I actually put play time/reading time on my list. Sigh…love crossing those completed tasks off. Then I had to learn how to relax and play instead of it being a “task.” God is faithful to show us what we need help with but He also is faithful to help us DO it, too.
futurehope says
That is a really good idea, adding it to the ‘to do’ list!
I might have to try that on our busier days!!!
Denise says
Appreciate your honesty.
Bonnie Way says
Oooh, I can identify with this post. I’m like you – I like a clean house and a crossed off to-do list. I’m not that great at sitting down to play with my kids. However, when I do, I find it surprisingly relaxing. Tonight after supper we played play-dough together for a bit. Rolling a ball of dough around in your hands is pretty soothing! I also enjoy colouring with them, when I can put aside my to-do list and just enjoy filling a page with colours (neatly, of course…). :) Thanks for being honest!
futurehope says
it is so fun when we actually do take the time to be intentional with them isn’t it?
it’s funny how much of a struggle it can be, when it ends up being so priceless. ;)
doseofreality says
Great post. I love your honest confession. :)
Shell says
Such honesty.
I HATE to clean.
futurehope says
haha I DO TOO!!!! I can still totally relate to her struggle though :)
Emily Cook says
Agreed. I very much relate to this. Cleaning feels so much more productive than just… being.
But because the being is important, too, I try to add it to my mental list in ways that feel productive, ie,
– work on fine motor skills (coloring, etc)
– feed my child’s love tank
– burn calories (wrestling!)
They stretch me, to set my own list-checking wants aside and just LOVE them! God help! :)
Ruth Povey says
I am just leaving work to stay home with my children and I KNOW this will be an issue for me. Thank you for sharing this (and helping me to feel that I have permission to sit and play – that it’s just as important as the cleaning!), A great post, found you through Faith Filled Friday.
meandmr.com says
Great post!
-Melanie
P.S. I’m doing a $50 Shabby Apple giveaway on my blog. You should check it out here: http://meandmr.com/post/35113285949/shabby-apple-50-giveaway
Rosilind Jukic says
I am glad I am not the only one who struggles with this! This is really, really true. Thank you for linking up this wonderful post.
Allie says
Thank you, girls for all of your supportive comments! It’s so good to hear that I am not the only one that honestly feels this way. Since writing this, I am still struggling with it but the point is that I am working on it and getting a little better :)
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