Sometimes I post items so that I can remember all of this life later.
As if I will ever forget the monstrosity that is the girls' room, I posted it here. Despite the bins, the shelves, the bunkbed, and the three closets they have in their room, we are still left with scenes like the one above. All too often.
The girls walk into their room, with the grand plan of cleaning it; and they do, for a short time. The books go back on the shelves and the clothes go into the hamper, whether they are dirty or not. And five minutes later, they get distracted by a thought, or a piece of paper that should have been thrown out long ago, or the laughter of the other one as she encounters a picture one of them has drawn. They crumble in a fit of giggles, all hope of cleaning now out the window.
I could yell and scream and demand that the room be cleaned. I could throw all of their personal belongings into a trash bag and say that if they can't keep it clean, they can't have it all. I could pull out my mean mommy persona and take drastic action. But at the end of the day, is it so important that their personal space be kept spotless?
That's a question I ask myself as I close the door on the girls' room and bask in the cleanliness that is Aaron's room. And Melina's. They tend to take after me and have a penchant for less clutter and more structure. Their toys usually live on the shelves and their clothes hover in the drawers. When it comes time to clean one of their rooms, it isn't an all day event. If I could have four children with a tendency toward neatness, I would, but again, how important is it?
I thought about that quite a bit yesterday, as I went about my business. Would I rather they keep a clean space, or that they are gentle and kind souls that help other people? Should they spend their time cleaning their room, or practicing the piano? Later on in life do I want them to say that their mother had a clean home, or allowed them to foster their creativity?
There's a fine line to figuring out what is really important in this life. If the clutter extends into the hallway, you can bet I'll be putting the proverbial foot down on making the room clean. And because we'll have visitors soon, the girls will be forced to place items back in their respective spots so that the floor can be used as a sleeping space.
But as for asking them to reach my high standards on clean and decluttered living? I think their energies should be placed elsewhere. It took me a long time to figure out where to put my own energy; many things demand it that should be ignored. Perhaps I'm doing them a favor later on in life.
As if I will ever forget the monstrosity that is the girls' room, I posted it here. Despite the bins, the shelves, the bunkbed, and the three closets they have in their room, we are still left with scenes like the one above. All too often.
The girls walk into their room, with the grand plan of cleaning it; and they do, for a short time. The books go back on the shelves and the clothes go into the hamper, whether they are dirty or not. And five minutes later, they get distracted by a thought, or a piece of paper that should have been thrown out long ago, or the laughter of the other one as she encounters a picture one of them has drawn. They crumble in a fit of giggles, all hope of cleaning now out the window.
I could yell and scream and demand that the room be cleaned. I could throw all of their personal belongings into a trash bag and say that if they can't keep it clean, they can't have it all. I could pull out my mean mommy persona and take drastic action. But at the end of the day, is it so important that their personal space be kept spotless?
That's a question I ask myself as I close the door on the girls' room and bask in the cleanliness that is Aaron's room. And Melina's. They tend to take after me and have a penchant for less clutter and more structure. Their toys usually live on the shelves and their clothes hover in the drawers. When it comes time to clean one of their rooms, it isn't an all day event. If I could have four children with a tendency toward neatness, I would, but again, how important is it?
I thought about that quite a bit yesterday, as I went about my business. Would I rather they keep a clean space, or that they are gentle and kind souls that help other people? Should they spend their time cleaning their room, or practicing the piano? Later on in life do I want them to say that their mother had a clean home, or allowed them to foster their creativity?
There's a fine line to figuring out what is really important in this life. If the clutter extends into the hallway, you can bet I'll be putting the proverbial foot down on making the room clean. And because we'll have visitors soon, the girls will be forced to place items back in their respective spots so that the floor can be used as a sleeping space.
But as for asking them to reach my high standards on clean and decluttered living? I think their energies should be placed elsewhere. It took me a long time to figure out where to put my own energy; many things demand it that should be ignored. Perhaps I'm doing them a favor later on in life.
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