PLEASE PARDON OUR MESS. WE ARE CONVERTING OURSELVES TO THE HOUSE THAT CLEANS ITSELF SYSTEM! DON'T FORGET TO ENTER FOR AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF THE BOOK!

                                                  



                                                

My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest. Isaiah 32:18


I am on to step 3, Involve the Household and hang the signs.  There is actually a sign in the book that you can hang and you can make photo copies as well. The sign says "  Please pardon our mess!  We are currently under construction, converting our house to the HTCI system" .  I think the signs are actually a good idea.  At least if people come over when the house is a mess, they will hopefully understand we are attempting to resolve this mess once and for all.  Plus it will give us something to talk about, either that or they will get a good laugh out of it. 

This is actually going to be a little scary.  Getting the kids involved I mean.  Basically step 3 is to get everyone in the family on board.  My hubby is somewhat on board.  I mean as much as he can be.  I have this bad habit of getting all excited about something and then eventually I give up.  Well, this time I am not.  I see the light at the end of the tunnel.  I know that this has the potential to work and I have the desire to do this.  I know that God wants us to have undisturbed places of rest.  If they are undisturbed and restful, they must be clean.  At least in my mind.  Now if you are single, you are lucky and you can skip step 3.  For the rest of us though, this may be a bit of a journey.  Reading this chapter made me a litte sad.  Sad at the realization that the author was right, that it is not a good thing for kids to grow up in a messy environment.  She mentions a study done by the University of Michigan that was presented at the 2001 annual meeting of the American Economic Association.  Kids who are raised in clean homes are more likely to complete more school and to get a better paying job than kids who are raised in dirty homes.  To think that something I am doing can affect my childs future is a bit sobering.  I never really felt it affected them that much.  Obviously it does make a difference.  And, having to do massive cleaning episodes when family or friends are going to be over is probably not a good thing for them to see either.  Usually that ends up with frustration, maybe even anger and that is never good.  I guess after reading step 3, I am more commited than ever to actually changing how our house runs, and how we conquer the clutter. 

If keeping our house clean can improve my childrens chances in life, who am I to stop that?  I mean, how can any good mom not care what happens to their children?  We all do care and would do almost anything to keep our kids safe.  Keeping our house clean is just an extension of that.  I think back to lost assignments the kids had from school, lost paperwork that had to be returned to the teacher and who knows what else.  Talk about embarassing for the kids.  We never had our house so messy that the kids could not have their friends over, but again that is my opinion.  Part of step 3 is getting the family on board.  I am hopeful that they will come on board with this.  My youngest son is an organizer.  He will help me organize the entry way closet and pretty much anything I ask him but he is 13 and he certainly can't do it himself.  Plus it is difficult when you share a room with your brother and you have different feelings about what "clean" is.  I mean is clean to a teenager everything spotless and in its place, or is it just a clean floor, no dust and fairly organized piles of stuff?  I recall my mom telling me that my room was a pigsty.  She said that a lot but I do remember the house was clean.  I mean I would not say my mom was a compulsive cleaner or anything, but people could stop by at a drop of a hat and the house was presentable.  I guess that is really what I want.  I want a neighbor or a friend to just stop by at the drop of a hat and I don't want to have to worry that my house is not presentable.  I guess that is it in a nutshell.  What is it for you?  What makes you upset about this whole messy house business?

I don't think I will ever forget when the kids were really little and I was beyond overwhelmed.  At the time, my kids were 5, 3 and 1.  My oldest had developmental delays and my youngest had almost died, had been on ECMO, a heart lung bypass machine to keep him alive while his lungs healed.  He had physical, speech and occupational therapy 3 times a week and I worked full time from home in a crazy job where you worked with a pager in 24 hour shifts solving crisis type issues.  Just thinking about this is stressing me out.  On top of that my husband was a food service truck driver and he would be gone for 2-3 days at a time.  He would come home and expect the house to be spotless and I guess for me to wait on him hand and foot.  Well, I was looking for a break as well.  And that did not work out so well. 

He did tell my best friend and her husband about this, and my great friend came over and tried to help me get organized and clean everything.  Now, that is a good friend.  Of course, I was mortified.  I did not really want people to know that I was having a hard time doing everything.  This I think is different than now. Now I have time, now the kids are older and even though there are health issues, it is not the harried pace I remember when they were little.  Then, there was no time, no time to take a shower or even to go to the bathroom, certainly no time to eat, take a break or clean the house.

So if you are one of those moms who is overwhelmed with a little one, or more than one little one, this is what I think.  I think that your kids are the priority.  Spending time with them is more valuable than anything.  Yes your house needs to be clean and sanitary, but spotless, no.  And, if your significant other, your friends, your family don't understand that you are stretched beyond reason, then they must not really understand how difficult it is.  Many moms have selective memory when they get older.  They don't remember how bad it got.  Maybe that is a good thing.

Although at the time I thought my husband was the worst man on the planet, over time he learned exactly what was involved in having three kids so close in age and with two that had special needs.  He had the opportunity to see first hand how things can really be when you are in the midst of it.  And, I have to say he is amazing.  He is a great dad and a good example for our boys.  I never really thought of it from his perspective.  If you are not home enough to see what is going on, then how can you have any idea about how things really are.  I am so thankful to God for him and for his ultimate understanding.  It is amazing how much we change and grow as we age.  This year we will be married 25 years.  We have grown a lot.  Hopefully we can grow a clean house.  :-)
















Don't forget to sign up to win the autographed copy of The House That Cleans Itself by Mindy Starns Clark!  Contest ends 1/31.