So much time, so little to do.

I suck as a house keeper. That felt good to get off my chest. I'd like to believe that I'm a little better than what I grew up with and more than likely my kids will be a little better than me. (Assuming that clutter falls away little by little with each generation.) Don't get me wrong, I really try, but I get so accustomed to the way something looks that it eventually seems normal. It usually takes me getting burned (aka; embarrassed) by a situation before it gets added to my 'to-do' list.

For example; 3 years ago I had a client show up unexpectedly for a massage because she had the wrong date written down. Not a problem since I almost always have my massage room up and ready for last minute calls. The problem arose when she asked if she could use the bathroom first, (CRAP!!!!), and I found myself racing her down the hallway to get there first. To this day, my bathroom gets completely straightened every morning.

We've had a terrible time getting our satellite service installed properly. The 4th service man was here last week and he informed me that he had to enter the closet in our downstairs level to reach some cables. (Yikes.) When he opened the door he said, "Wow, is this where the other 3 repairmen ended up?" I said, "No. They're under our new concrete patio and I'd suggest you keep your comments to yourself because I could always use another patio."

For the most part, I like a straightened house. My cleaning day is Monday. (It used to be Friday but by Monday mornings my house takes on a 'Frat' look after a weekend with my family so I switched.) What cleaning means to me is a big time straightening of everything, scouring bathroom and kitchen counter tops, the toilet (of course), and dusting & vacuuming. (Not sure why I waste my time with the dusting thing since that returns by Tuesday.)

Wednesday is my laundry day. The kids know to have their baskets downstairs or it doesn't get done until the following Wednesday. (I refuse to live in my laundry room.)

And every other Tuesday I mop and launder the towels & bathmats. You might notice in my little nutshell of a cleaning schedule that washing the sheets wasn't mentioned. Let me assure you that between vomit, urine, un-capped markers, and nose bleeds, everyone's sheets get washed eventually.

My husband, who hardly ever shaves and refuses to keep track of my mopping schedule, has the habit of shaving shortly after I mop, leaving tons of tiny whiskers all over the floor. It never fails. Last month in a fit of rage I yelled, "I MOP EVERY OTHER TUESDAY! PICK A TIME TO SHAVE RIGHT NOW!" He calmly said, "I choose every other Tuesday evening." (I guess I asked for that.) So I've come to accept that my family looks at a freshly mopped floor as an artist looks at an empty canvas.

Don't expect my house to pass a white glove test. There are things I'd love to change but I'm simply not motivated enough to do it. You might find dishes downstairs from where we eat in front of the television. I realize that goes against everything you read in 'the books' but the day C stood up in her high chair, announced that she was done, removed her underwear and tossed them onto my husband's plate , eating at the table became less appealing.

So you might be wondering how I spend my days as a full time stay at home mom. That's easy.....I spend it with my husband and my kids. I try to have dinner ready when my husband gets home from work. I love to date him even if that just means cups of coffee on the patio or a private dinner for 2 upstairs while the kids eat downstairs. We love family time. We swim. We play a ridiculous amount of Cornhole in the backyard. We love to have drive-in movies and bonfires outside at night. In the winter we can be found in front of the fireplace playing board games that have been known to turn violent. In June, I began a tradition of 2am Wii golf tournaments with Z and K and if you can't find me, I'm probably reading with A up in her bed. (And I frequently fall asleep there, too.) In my opinion, all of these things are time well spent. In a home that includes children ranging in age from toddler to teenagers, I realize that kids don't need less attention the older they get. They just need a different kind.

So here I sit on my 'mopping' Tuesday with un-mopped floors. Know why? Because my husband is coming home from work early and we're taking the kids to a water park which means that 'mopping Tuesday' probably won't happen till Wednesday this time and I'm okay with that. Because someday, (hopefully many years from now), when I'm lying on my death bed I don't predict that I'll be wishing that I'd had a cleaner house. I do predict, however, that I won't regret not playing Cornhole with my kids when they ask.....because I always do.