Cleaning Up

I'm always trying to find a balance between keeping a clean (haha!) home and just letting go for the sake of enjoying my kids while they are young.  It is a VERY difficult balance because I can't stand living in clutter and unclean countertops, but I also LOVE watching the kids play and observing their imaginations at work.  So...I'm sure I'll continue on the never ending circle of finding the right balance that works for my family.

I've read on blogs and seen pins on Pinterest about just letting the mess go and embracing it for this time in my life.  They are only little once, right?  I've let myself believe that the last 2 1/2 years I've been home (side note - crazy that I've been home for almost 2 1/2 years!!!!).  I've bought into the idea that enjoying them while they are little is more important than a clean house.  And, while yes, I often choose my kids over cleaning, I believe there is nothing wrong with making the kids entertain themselves for awhile in order to tidy up a bit.

And then I read the most freeing blog post EVER!  The jist of the post is that her house is picked up every night before going to bed.  ALL FAMILY MEMEBERS ASSIST IN THIS PROCESS!  Everyone gets assigned a task (or a room) to tidy up and the entire family is done within a 15 minute window.  HOLY SMOKES, this lady is a genius!  It dawned on me that I don't have to CHOOSE between a "tidy" house and spending quality time with my kids.  I can have BOTH!

It's amazing how quickly the basement can be torn apart.  I mean literally, it can happen in less than 5 minutes.  Every single toy we own is scattered on the carpet.  When those days happen, and they happen often, I assign each kid one set of toys to clean.  Reagan is usually in charge of putting the trains and tracks away and Kyleigh is in charge of putting the kitchen away.  I pick up the odds and ends (let's be honest - they "need" to be put into the correct bin, so I take care of those!) and the basement is cleaned in about 10 minutes or less.  I had been doing this months prior to reading the post, but I always had some sort of guilt along with it.  I'm not sure why I felt guilty, but I did.  I never get any complaints about cleaning up the basement - the kids just know that this is part of our daily routine.  In fact, after I assign Reagan his task, he's very quick to ask what MY task is!

While my house will never be as clean as I want it to be with young children in the house, I'm okay with that.  BUT, I'm also okay with have the house tidy and the kids picking up their toys to be put away at the end of the day.