It was Phyllis Diller who described it best when she said, “Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing up is like shoveling the walk before it stops snowing.”

Cleaning with kids around is futility at its best.

You can try your best to keep a clean house, but if you have kids, you’ll most likely have something, somewhere in your home that’s dirty, sticky, or at the very least needs tidying up.

I used to get easily frustrated because as I cleaned one thing something else was immediately a (usually bigger) mess.  Then I realized it was the laws of the universe, forces well beyond my control, that were working against me.

Here are some of the most common Murphy’s Laws of Cleaning (when you have kids around):

1.  Freshly changed bed sheets will be peed on that night.

2. Just mopped the floor? Juice (or other sticky substances) will be spilled on it within the hour.

3. A newly Windexed window attracts grubby little fingers.

4. Toast lands jelly side down 100% of the time.

5.  White children’s clothing holds magnetic capabilities. Expect grass, chocolate, sauce or all of the above, sometimes within moments of putting the white garment on the child.  No child has ever worn white without some stain appearing.

6.  A toilet, or area around a toilet, will stay clean until a kid uses it.  Even after painting a red target inside my toilet bowl, it seems to be everywhere else but in it.

7.  Magic Erasers do not erase art from walls.  It simply encourages new art to pop up in different places.

8.  There is always at least one Lego left on the floor, even after you pick up every last toy and vacuum. You will find this Lego while you are in bare feet, usually while trying to maneuver in a sleeping child’s room in the dark.

9.  The laundry is never done – ever.  You can stop doing laundry when you’re dead. Otherwise, there’s always something that needs washed.

10.  Always keep cleaning supplies out of the reach of children.  I used to keep mine in a bucket and carry it from room to room as I was cleaning. As I was busy dusting, my son slipped in and decided to help clean his room by squirting liquid cleanser (with bleach) all over his carpet.  When kids help with the cleaning, there’s usually a bigger mess that follows. 

What are some of the Murphy’s Laws of Cleaning that you’ve noticed?  How is the universe working to keep your house dirty? Leave me a comment!

 

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I’m not picking sides in the Mommy Wars (aka stay at home versus working Moms).

First of all, I’ve been on both sides of the fence. I’ve worked because I had to work, but I have also worked because I wanted to work.

Then when I decided to stay home, it was an adjustment that was not without a number of sacrifices, but for me it was the right choice.

Furthermore, I may find myself back in the workplace in the future.

I can sympathize with people who have to work.

I respect Moms who choose to work.

I am currently a Mom who works full time around the house.

These so called Mommy Wars are something I never mentioned before because it’s not an issue to me.  It’s just another way some people want to divide us up and pit us against each other.

We should be supporting each other.

Each Mom needs to decide what works best for her and her family.  This may change and she may need to adjust her position to meet her family’s needs, and that’s okay too.

YOU need to do what is right for your situation.

It’s easy to jump in and judge someone else for the choices that they have made with or without having walked in their shoes.  Whenever I feel tempted to weigh in on issues like this, I try to remember what I really need to do is to keep my focus on my family.  Raising my own children is challenging enough without expending extra time and energy worrying and arguing about the choices other people are making for their families.

So when someone snidely remarked to me yesterday, “Oh, you JUST stay at home?”

I let it roll off my back.

However, I bring it up now because if this woman, in the position she was in, had said that to another Mom, that Mom may have felt bad about herself and the choices she has made.

So until people start raising perfect children in perfect households (whether they are working or stay at home Moms), they should start keeping their opinions to themselves.

And my unsolicited advice to anyone who might find themselves receiving the opinion of another…

No matter who you are, or what you do, you just need to rock it.

Whether you have chosen to work or stay home, or whether you are there because you have to be, do the best you can where ever you are now, no matter the reason.

Let’s stop trying to divide each other.

Let’s start respecting each other.

Let’s start supporting each other.

Let’s try to be the best Moms we can be where ever we are…

And to the woman who thought she was making me feel wrong for once being a working mother, who now just stays home,

Yes, I do just stay home… and by the way, I’m fucking awesome at it.

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