I need to make a public apology here

[Katigre]

I confess.

I used to read this forum and see moms struggling to keep their homes clean and clutter-free and i just.didn't.get.it. I felt like this reading some of the threads :scratch.

I mean, I'm a naturally organized person and kept our little home pretty clean and neat. I struggled to understand when they talked about messes appearing again and again due to their children. "Surely all kids don't make that big of messes" I thought. "I mean, my child is mobile and isn't making big messes at all." :shrug

I had neglected one tiny detail - my child was not yet a toddler! :laughtears

OH my, oh me oh my. What a difference that first birthday makes. When we are home each day the house is a mess b/c he is a tornado through each room - playing, exploring, pulling things out, putting them back in, etc... I cannot keep up. I do my best to get one room somewhat decent each day and forget the rest. I enjoy the days when we're gone a lot b/c then the house doesn't get any messier :shifty.

So I wanted to come apologize for all the 'i don't get it' thoughts I had over the past year - God is surely showing me the error of my ways now :giggle.

[expatmom]

:giggle

[zak]

:lol

My. I have no clue what you're talking about... <as I sit to take a break from picking up toys and clothes>

[4MKfam]

Apology accepted :lol. Just imagine three under six in a two-br apartment, too many toys and not enough space --and then try to teach them to help you :shifty. I keep telling myself it'll get better... It has to --it can't get much worse :lol! I just keep a mental picture of the lady on Oprah with the dogs going #2 everywhere and three-month-old roast rotting in the crock-pot and tell myself that at least it's somewhat sanitary --I do manage to keep the laundry and dishes done and I don't have pets to clean up after :shrug :lol.

[SouthPaw]

:yes

we just got things back under control w/ dd at 2 yrs and DD2 at 6 months :phew

[Sakura]

Uhhhh - I'm a neat (clutter, that is) freak - and my apt. is a big, cluttered mess now since sweet baby's arrival because I'm not able to straighten up hardly at all. So I'm adjusting.

But - you mean it's gonna get worse as toddler age hits???!! :lol

[Teacher Mom]

I remember thinking all moms were scatter brained....... :O :blush :jawdrop :laughtears

I had NO clue how hard it is to be a mom/step-mom. It is absolutely, without a doubt, the hardest job on earth.

[ArmsOfLove]

:hug apology accepted

it's amazing what being on the other side of the fence can teach you ;)

[deena]

:giggle

[allisonintx]

:laughtears

It's a bit like not being a parent yet...you can always give fool proof parenting advice then. :mrgreen

[tempus vernum]

:laughtears

It's a bit like not being a parent yet...you can always give fool proof parenting advice then. :mrgreen


:yes :yes :giggle

:hug I think having a tornado is so much fun. .. . oops. . . I meant to type toddler ;)

[MarynMunchkins]

:giggle

[milkmommy]

I had neglected one tiny detail - my child was not yet a toddler!

Yes a small but vital detail... :laughtears :laughtears :laughtears :laughtears :hug2 ;) we keep a fairly clean home (except oh from about 7 months till around age 2.5) :shifty :lol

Deanna

[Aisling]

:giggle

Ah, yes. :giggle :heart Both of mine are now quite mobile and under 3yrs. It's a challenge. A challenge I never got until Magpie discovered the joy of tearig things into tiny jiblets, making piles all over the house, and pulling everything off anything taller than her head for fun. :lol

[Marsha]

gosh, I thought the same thing when I had one child. I just cleaned up two or three times a day. Now, forget about it. I kick things in the corner at night so I don't have to look at them. I vacuum around and over stuff. It's not worth it anymore.

[Cindy]

:popcorn

for child # 2 and #3...

:giggle

[Iarwain]

:lol

[Littledisciples]

:heart :hug2 No Problem. My SIL said the same thing to me and thought I was the worst parent in the world. Tell her little boy became the same age. She then told me sorry and now has another child and her hands are fuller then ever. I don't think anything can prepare you for motherhood. It is one of those things you just have to do to know.

[Teacher Mom]

I kick things in the corner at night so I don't have to look at them. I vacuum around and over stuff. It's not worth it anymore.


I asked the kids to pick up their toys so I could vacuum. When I went in to vacuum, all the toys were off the rug and on the hardwood floor!!!!!! :giggle

[tree_hugger]

I used to think that until I had baby number three .... then suddenly I understood why some women struggle with housework. :O

:heart

[Herbwifemama]

I thought my child was mobile when she was crawling at the same speed I walked and cruising everywhere. Oh no, it's a totally different ballgame when they can walk and climb! Eek! :)

[naturallia]

I'm right there with you! :lol

[crunchymum]

:lol

welcome!!! (bwhahahahahahaaaaa) :giggle

[joyful mama]

:hug

and apology accepted ;)

I'll never forget when my (not-so-neat) friend came over after I had Therese, who was just about to celebrate her first birthday. She knows I"m pretty neat. She said, "what happened!?" :P~

[Jenny]

I just keep a mental picture of the lady on Oprah with the dogs going #2 everywhere and three-month-old roast rotting in the crock-pot and tell myself that at least it's somewhat sanitary --I do manage to keep the laundry and dishes done and I don't have pets to clean up after :shrug :lol.


:sick I'm glad I missed that!

[JavaMama]

BTDT! Toddlerhood is fun! :giggle

[righteous mama]

My sister's kids think our house is terrible. They always make little comments (they are almost 13 and almost 10). They don't remember when their house was covered in toddler toys, half filled sippy cups with curdled milk (it was so gross!), and trash needing to be taken out. They don't remember the car being filled to the gills with clothes, toys, and take out containers. They have no memory of the chaos that was once their lives. Now they have chores and are old enough to complete them. Now they have less toys. It's a whole different ballgame.

[4thekids]

This is not what I needed to hear. :no2 Not at all. I have a hard enough time cleaning up after myself. :O DS is turning one in 2 weeks. Please don't tell me it gets worse. :doh

[Soliloquy]

[quote=4thekids ]
This is not what I needed to hear. :no2 Not at all. I have a hard enough time cleaning up after myself. :O DS is turning one in 2 weeks. Please don't tell

:giggle Sorry, but it gets worse. :giggle

[mummy2boys]

This is not what I needed to hear. Not at all. I have a hard enough time cleaning up after myself. DS is turning one in 2 weeks. Please don't tell me it gets worse.

Mine are almost 9 and almost 7 and we still struggle...Sorry :hug2

[Marsha]

I thought it was so manageable with one. Granted, myfirst never really played. She just wanted to be w/me all the time, 24/7 so if she emptied the movie cabinet, ro a bookshelf and it occupied her for 10 minutes, I considered it a decent trade off.
With two, I am overwhlemed at the sheer amt of clutter. And toys. And just plain old stuff. My youngest just drags things out while I'm straightening up something else. MY preschooler is so spacey she just "sheds" things all over the house.

[Katherine]

I remember when we only had one child going over to the home of someone with 4 young kids. She was apolgetic about the "mess" (which I would now read: normal everyday condition of a home with 4 active kids) and her husband is the type that doesn't understand why she can't keep the house spotless like his Mom did. :rolleyes I remember thinking... "Weeeeeelll.. I can kind of see his point... " My sink wasn't piled with dishes, and there weren't toys on the floor in nearly every room... nothing was cluttered, etc.

*sigh* taking a moment to remember that. :laughtears

I remember her telling me how he just didn't understand and that she did what needed to be done, but it was more important to spend at least *some* time with her kids during the day than to be doing housework and ignoring them. I nodded, of course, but in the back of my mind... I just didn't *get* it. :giggle :O Now with a turbo-toddler, a 3yo, and a 5yo, I feel like I owe her an apology, too, just for not understanding. :giggle

[JavaMama]

Yeah, I know I didn't used to be all that understanding- I KNEW that little kids were messy but I didn't realize just how hard it is to keep up with them 24/7. :O My first baby wasn't super mobile and adventurous until around 2 years old and then it was bad for awhile. Our house was a pigsty when dd1 was 4.5, ds was 2 and I had terrible morning sickness- it was such an embarrassment. I tend to go to great lengths to keep the house clean now (if I eat well and keep the house neat, I'm a better mom :shifty) and the kids are getting old enough to help with things like gathering up the dishes from a meal and such. That helps, and it's also teaching them that these things don't get done magically. :phew

There definitely needs to be some extra grace extended to moms who have kids at home all day and/or small kids, especially since the nuclear family means grandma isn't sitting in the living room playing with the kids while mom washes up the dishes.