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March 22, 2006
It's not about perfection
The amount of time in any 24-hour period that I am not holding Eli or dealing with Gus is limited. In those brief moments, I'm either sleeping, showering or frantically trying to keep our house from imploding. It's the implosion prevention that got me thinking... I think I'm a perfectionist slob. I don't mean I try really hard to be the perfect slob; rather, that I want things to be perfect, and if I ever think I can't do something 'right', I jut avoid doing it at all. See, you can't fail at perfection if you don't try.
So today, in thinking about this, I want to publicly give myself a break. Janna, you don't have to try to clean everything at the same time. It IS ok to do a little bit rather than freezing and doing nothing at all.
You also don't need to live like a slob, so where's the balance?
It seems like the answer is simply efficiency. Do things quickly without comprimising the integrity of the task. Do as much as you can in 10-minute spurts...and keep practing your "I-can-make-you-a-peanut-butter-sandwich-while-nursing-Eli" act.
Just DO something.
Posted by janna at March 22, 2006 07:55 PM
Comments
Maybe this an IA trait? or the thing that makes all IAs implicitly understand each other? I'm the exact same way.
I have accepted slobdom, for the most part. I don't have the time or physical stamina to get it cleaned right, and it's just going to get dirty again in a few days, so why bother? And it's too dirty to ask someone else to come in and clean, because then that person will know I'm a slob. I'd have to totally clean up first.
At least my piles are organized ;)
Posted by: Brenda at March 23, 2006 07:36 AM
okay, here's the deal, the best day of my life as a Mom was when I decided that Alex really would only be 8 months old once and he was changing so fast that I had to let some of the "craziness" go and enjoy him! You lived with us, remember? I always wanted everything clean and neat, but when it came to choosing between my time off being one to one with my kids, it was a hands-down no brainer. The downside of this is that now that they are older and certainly not that interested in one to one with me, I just haven't bounced back to my ambitious self. Maybe it's God's way of saying it doesn't matter in the big scheme of things. Be a Mom, get some rest (I know you are exhausted) and just do what you have to do to keep the boys taken care of. Confession: the one thing I was obsessed with was my kids' clothes. I remember ironing those little sleepers and hanging them up in the closet. I just loved seeing them all hanging up, they were soooooo cute. I don't regret the money I spent on toys or clothes either. The kids pretty much decided what they would or would not wear by 3 or 4 years of age and I realized it didn't matter if Alex had his sisters pink Jasmine snow boots on with his shorts...
Posted by: aunt deb at March 24, 2006 07:29 AM