Finding the balance at home

When I was a little girl, the answer to the "what do you want to be when you grow up" question was always "a mom." From my young, naive perspective, moms got to play with the kids and keep the house clean. Moms were the first line of defense when something went wrong. Moms were there to wipe away the tears and kiss boo-boos. But when I became a mom and began staying home, reality set in and I realized there was more to this mom thing than I ever imagined.

Keeping a house clean, organized, and welcoming is easy - if you stay on top of it. If I don't let the piles of laundry consume me and I just do a little dusting or window cleaning here and there, this place runs like a well-oiled machine. But when I get lazy (yes, embarrassingly enough, I get lazy) chaos ensues and the house starts to look like several tornadoes ran through it and weren't very kind. Then I found the Motivated Moms system of keeping everything in order. And I must say, when I follow the handy checklist, it's amazing how smooth everything seems to run.

It's not about scrubbing and cleaning from sun-up to sun down. It's about finding the balance. Just doing a little bit of housework each day makes a tremendous difference. Now I feel like I have time to play with my kids and not stress over the mess. Plus, when I check off the things that get done, I can see that I really do a lot around here that truly makes a difference in the life of my family.

And when I know I've taken care of my responsibilities at home, I better able allow myself some fun with grown-ups now and again without feeling guilty. Last night I went to my first monthly blogtail (or is it blogtale) hour and had good conversation with several fellow local bloggers. Aside from getting to speak grown-up language with people other than my husband, I met some people (aside from family and friends who are sometimes forced to see what I've written because I need the ego boost) who enjoy reading my blog. There's something motivating about strangers who are curious about my opinions and ideas.

So, it's all about finding the balance. In the past, I've been more focused on the extremes - I either strive for perfection or do nothing at all because I know I can not be perfect. 2008 is shaping up to be the year I strive for balance.

So far, living in balance is calm, peaceful, and fun.