A couple days ago my mother-in-law offered to call her cleaning lady to come to our house. And here I thought I had been doing a fantastic job with this domestic business!
I clean the kitchen top to bottom every single night. I vacuum daily. I mop and clean bathrooms weekly. And somehow I manage to mostly keep up with endless (literally) laundry, picking up all kid toys before bed, heck I even scrubbed the kitchen cabinets this week! So I was a little surprised by her suggestion.
I mean, it made sense when I worked full time, but now that I am home it feels a bit frivolous.
Confused, I pointed out how many chores I did every day. “I feel like the house is cleaner than ever…”
“Well, it’s so much work taking care of two kids. I raised twins so I know. I just thought it would be nice to help you.” She reasoned.
“I appreciate it,” I replied, debating whether or not to take her up on the offer. “But it just seems silly with me home every day. I can handle it– is there something I missed?”
“Well…” Pause.” There’s a little dust on the bookshelves…”
Dust?!
“I just know how busy you are and everyone has allergies and…”
I know she meant well, but now I really couldn’t accept– I definitely couldn’t justify anyone (even if it was a gift) paying a cleaning crew to come in because there was a little dust on some shelves. I assured her that I had everything under control and not to worry.
So here I am, exhausted, finally sitting down at 11pm because I spent my Friday night DUSTING. Oh well, the house does smell fabulous!
And I guess it’s my own fault. I have told my husband so many times that he needs to learn how to graciously just say “thank you” on occasion. Maybe I should have heeded my own advice.
Being a stay at home mom IS hard work! There’s really no way of knowing until you’re in it— making sure big sis is dressed, fed, and off to school on time in the morning; changing every poopy diaper (for some reason Annabelle saves them for me); trying to think of ways to entertain two kiddos all afternoon; squeezing in a workout wherever possible; completing all of the aforementioned chores; getting both kids bathed, fed, in pajamas, and in bed at a reasonable time and praying that no one has a meltdown. Phew!
Moms (and dads): there’s nothing wrong with accepting an offer of help or a gift every once and a while. It doesn’t mean that you are a bad mom or you’re not doing a good job. It means that there is someone out there who CARES— let them! I’ve learned my lesson! Next time I’ll be relaxing and watching an entire movie on a Friday instead of looking for all the dust I’ve missed.
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Hahaha this makes me laugh because my when my mom watches Ava for us we always come home to a much neater & cleaner kitchen and living room. I tell her to just relax and not to clean but she cannot help herself. I don’t do half the amount of cleaning you do, I’m seriously impressed!
Oh I hope I didn’t sound like I was bragging…I’m far from super-mom! haha
Not at all! I think it’s awesome that you manage all that, I wish I could!
Oh man…. Yes you should have said SURE… Call then up!! I am thankful that I don’t have a mother in law that breaths down my back about how clean my house is. Just be sure to give her grace and don’t think too much on it. She may not realize how critical that sounded of her, and maybe she was just being nice. Being a stay at home mom is so hard.. So if you are doing all that, you are a rock star!! 🙂
Oh I’m sure she was just being nice! She’s actually pretty cool for a mother-in-law. I’m just too proud to accept “help” sometimes 🙂 You’re right…I should have!