Re: How to find balance
Pam Hartley
----------
It's not impossible to say, "The kids are more important than the mess in
the house" most of the time, but when you get frantic for "clear space"
(living in a mess is painful to me) it's not a sign of Bad MotherHood and
Unschooling Failure to say to the kids, "There's sandwich stuff in the
refrigerator, can you guys either find things to do or help me clean this
all up, because today is Cleaning Day until I can see what color carpet we
have again." (The "or I'm going to jump out the window" should be left
unsaid. <g>)
Pam
>From: [email protected]It's impossible to do everything perfectly all the time, yes. :)
>To: [email protected]
>Subject: [Unschooling-Discussion] Digest Number 3910
>Date: Mon, Aug 11, 2003, 7:58 AM
>
> Today I have been cleaning for nearly the whole day. I've been doing small
> amounts each day but I just had enough today and had to have a clean up. I
> have felt guilty all day because I haven't spent much time with the kids but
> I know if I had left the house I would have felt guilty all day for leaving
> it in such a state, especially when Mark gets home to it.
>
> It's hard not to get caught up in cleaning all the time at the expense of
> your kids once you get started. And it's hard to get motivated to kep your
> house clean once you get involved with what you're kids are doing.
>
> Has anyone managed to strike a balance in this area? Or is it impossible?
It's not impossible to say, "The kids are more important than the mess in
the house" most of the time, but when you get frantic for "clear space"
(living in a mess is painful to me) it's not a sign of Bad MotherHood and
Unschooling Failure to say to the kids, "There's sandwich stuff in the
refrigerator, can you guys either find things to do or help me clean this
all up, because today is Cleaning Day until I can see what color carpet we
have again." (The "or I'm going to jump out the window" should be left
unsaid. <g>)
Pam