I have a whole new appreciation for my mother these days.
I can never remember a time when our house wasn’t clean. She always had a batch of fresh cookies in the jar, and she sewed countless outfits for special occasions: Halloween costumes, orchestra concert ensembles, a skirt for my 12th birthday celebration. Dinner was always on the table, every single night.
There are three of us kids, with four years between my sister and I, and seven-and-a-half separating me from my brother.
Honestly, I don’t know how she did it, and I look around my own messy life and feel totally inadequate. I’ve got one kid, a regular babysitter and a small house.
I asked my mother recently how she managed to run such a tight ship, and why I always felt behind in the housekeeping race.
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Yes! I’m so glad someone else is like me…my house constantly looks like a tornado went through it. I told myself that when I had a new house, I would not let it get too messy. HA!
I wonder, in the future, if there will be any of the “old style” moms left.
Great post! I wonder how we are going to manage when our children finally arrive – and look back with so much more respect now at what my own parents did to bring my brother and I up.
Hi! Really enjoyed your Hell Night posting. My mom was sort of the opposite … she did what she wanted to do and dragged us along (hence I grew up in bowling alleys and local dinner theaters). But I will still never get how she made a hot dinner for all six of us six nights a week – (Sunday was takeout) and it all arrived at the table, hot, at the same time. Can’t do it. I also called her once to thank her for taking out all the seeds in the watermelon when she cut it for us. She said she didn’t do that for us… she did it because that’s the way she liked it! Ahhh, live and learn and love thyself. (I’m a fellow GNMParents blogger, also blogging at http://www.connectwithkids.com. I love your website (your old one, too). Do you give lessons? Look forward to reading more.
–Ginger
My house right now at this very moment looks like a tornado went through it and here I am making this comment instead of cleaning! Its so bad I don’t really want to say how bad it is.
Like this post! My mother was not really there when i was growing up. When she was home she made us clean the house top to bottom while she stood over us. Us being my sister and I. My brother was not in the home.
I guess this is why I hate cleaning as much as I do!
ps I tagged you for a meme come and check it out!
Love this post!!! I am not June Cleaver and never will be – but I have the highest respect and regard for all the moms before me that could live up to that level. I thank god everyday that I can hire a cleaning lady and order take out when needed on the most hectic of days. Great writing and thank you for sharing your life.
Great essay! I think your mother and I were cut from the same mold – except her floors are definitely cleaner than mine!
Hehehe…
My guess is that our mothers did not have teh intenets.
Yep, me too. Constantly trashed house; lots of mac and cheese or chicken nuggets or grilled cheese or even (*GASP*) cereal for dinner.
I am a charter member of the my-kids-need-a-sane-and-sometimes-even-happy-mommy school of parenting. I have been down the slippery all for them; none left for me slope, which ends up leaving — in my opinion — none for them, either. So I write, and I make time for grownup time, and I make sure that they know when I’m out on a playdate, so that they will learn to cherish time for themselves someday, too.
This post rocked. I seriously don’t know how moms do it.
I am gratfeul to my mom for not havng kept a perfect house. The way I see it, it made the episodes of order and tidiness all the more worthy of appreciation.
I don’t know how my wife does it. She apologizes to me some times because she doesn’t feel like she’s getting everything done that needs to get done. All it takes is me spending 3 hours on my own with my girls to wonder how she gets anything done at all. Being a mom is a huge task.
My house is messy probably 85% of the time. I don’t like it, but that’s life. There is no way I’m staying up at midnight to scrub toilets.