I was talking with a friend the other day and she was telling me about her struggle to always try to keep her house clean and orderly, a daunting task now that her 1 year-old girl has begun to walk and has become very mobile and even more curious. She told her mom about her frustration about always picking up after her daughter and in response her mom told her to forget about always having a clean house. "You're a mom now, your house is going to be messy. Years from now, Hailey won't remember how clean the house always was, but she will remember the things she learned and discovered through playing with her mom and with her toys." (So, that wasn't the exact phrasing, but it is pretty close).
This conversation with my friend reminded me of a class I took while I was at BYU-Idaho. In that class we read an essay that I fell in love with, My Home as a Temple by Kristine Manwaring. It was from our text, Strengthening Our Families: An In-Depth Look at the Proclamation on the Family. Some of you may even own this book (pictured above). I just discovered on Sunday that the essay was actually published by Meridian Magazine as well, so I thought I would post the link to share my enormous enthusiasm with everyone.
This lesson has been one that I have also had to learn, and I'm sure I will continue to learn it as more distractions come my way. My number one job, now, is being a mom. I am responsible for the nurturing of Logan, which by all means includes exploring and learning together. I do believe in having an orderly enough environment to allow the spirit to reside in your home and to give your child structure and stability, but there has to be a balance. One purpose for the home is providing a place where family relationships can be built, protected, and strengthened, and if that requires making (and cleaning up) a little mess sometimes, then I am ok with that! I hope you all will take the time to read and enjoy this article. It is one of my favorites!
5 comments:
Great post. I think every mom struggles with this more than once in her life. I have adopted a new motto. "My house is clean enough to be healthy, dirty enough to be happy."
Thanks Kris. You are a concerned and loving Mom. Enjoy little Logan every day - they grow so very fast.
I actually took a class from Kristine Manwaring at BYU and it was really good and insightful. The class was called Work and Relationships in the Home and we talked a lot about this topic. I guess sometimes we all have to learn to let things go. I am one who loves to have my house clean, but with a new baby it's definitely not always perfect. Yesterday I worked really hard to clean and get laundry done, but by the evening I finally gave up on sweeping and mopping the floors and decided it could wait, and my baby needed snuggling worse.
Great post Kristi! I agree with you. I do like that article and it can be hard to juggle housework and family life. Logan sure is cute!
Kristi i came across your blog and thought i would say hi. logan is so cute. i have a little boy who is a month younger. we also have a blog. http://heathandrachel.blogspot.com/
rachel becker (brower)
Post a Comment