Dandelion Fluff!

Have you ever felt that "crushing feeling" of living in a home that is anything but organized? You know... where the laundry is piled up on the guest bed waiting to be folded and put away; the dining room table is completely covered with mail, diaper bag, magazines, and other sorts of sundry items that have lazily been dumped placed there upon entering the home; shoes have been kicked off all over the place; toys are all over the floor in the family room; kitchen counters are covered with ... stuff; and your bedroom is ... well, I'll let you fill in the blank.

That's my home right now. And, I can't really use "we've been running like crazy this week" as an excuse, because it seems like that's been the state of my home since the last week of my pregnancy with Hunter. Twenty months ago.

And I'm RIGHT THERE ... at the BREAKING POINT ... where I go from room to room with a huge contractor's trash bag and throw everything away. I could care less about making money at yard sales. That would require free time for me to organize stuff, price stuff, and actually set aside a full day to, well ... sell stuff. In fact, I've had two different people who were looking for extra work ask me if they could come and clean my home, and all I can think of when they ask is... "well, will you let me tie a rope around your waist in case you get lost and can't find your way out? 'Cause that would be my only requirement!" Okay, it's not that bad ... but it's getting there!

When I was growing up, my mother had a full-time nanny living in our home, taking care of me and my sister, and cleaning the house and cooking. Don't get my wrong ... my mom didn't lie around all day watching soap operas. No. She worked full time. AND, she's quite obsessive-compulsive about everything, and she would spend hours organizing stuff. It's quite a tall order to live up to, especially when she comes to visit, and I feel like everything has to be perfect.

But you know what? I heard our local Christian radio station air a commercial on Sunday (Mother's Day) that really touched my heart and made me feel a whole lot better. It went something like this:

Dishes are piling. You're behind on the laundry. You haven't dusted in
ages, and your errands haven't gotten done. Dinner's not ready, and the floor is
littered with toys... And YOU'RE playing with your kids.

Thanks, mom, for keeping your priorities in order.

Happy Mother's Day to you from WXXX!

Well, I know that if I were a full-time mom, my responsibilities would be to keep my home in order... and I would do just that, too. But working a full-time job and caring for your family tends to throw my priorities a little bit askew. So, this commercial meant the world to me.

Then, yesterday morning, I read this post at My Quiet Corner by Momrn2 ... and she also expressed similar sentiments... It made me feel so normal.

I guess I do keep my priorities in somewhat of an orderly fashion. After all, my hope is that my child will remember mom blowing bubbles with him after work, and walking him to the park so he can slide down the slide 50,000 times. Or maybe setting up the sprinkler for him and sitting on the front stoop watching him daringly step into the line of freezing cold water while he giggles and squeals and laughs hysterically.

You know, I used to be obsessed with perfection, and in some things, I can still be like that. But ... I waited so long for this child, and he is so important to me. He is a huge responsibility that God has placed in my hands, and for the life of me ... I can't imagine choosing to dust and fold laundry over playing with him in the back yard.

I guess there comes a time when you have to ignore the raised eyebrows and questioning looks when people come into your home, and accept it for what it is ... a lesser priority. And move on to the more important priorities in your life ... family. Because one day, I'm going to want to pull precious memories out of my heart and reflect on them ... and I certainly don't want those memories to be of me folding laundry while my life passed on before my very eyes.

So if you're coming to visit my house, you'll need to give me warning. But if you're coming to see me and my family, I'll be in the back yard with my husband and a little boy who gets insurmountable joy from blowing dandelion fluff all over our backyard.