I slowly opened the door to my son’s room hoping I wasn’t going to see what I had been dreading all day. The smell wafted my direction before I had the door all the way open. Yuck! Tween boy smell. What is that even, anyway? A mixture of sweat, feet and hormones? Gross. Why is it so hard for him to keep his room clean? Why is it a constant struggle for us to keep the house clean?
I long for a clean, tidy home. One where everything has its place and when you walk in a room – it just feels like home. I want to come home and open my front door and sigh with happiness at the feeling of being home and comfortable. We moved a few months ago and I feel like we have been living in a constant state of chaos since we moved in. (And in some ways we have, but that’s a different article entirely.) Part of the problem is simply not knowing where things need to go. It takes time to organize and find homes for all the “things.” Another issue is not being able to unpack all at one time, so every time I get unpacked and all the rooms organized – I just have to start all over again when we unpack more boxes. Ugh!
Another obstacle to having a clean house is the fact that I have four kids. My teenage girls aren’t too bad. They actually help keep the house fairly tidy except for the random books laying around the house. Their rooms are another story, though. The situation is actually better now that they have their own rooms, but I still have to nag them to keep them tidy; especially when it comes to their bathroom. (Insert eye roll and huge sigh.)
My son is also better at keeping the main house tidy than he used to be, but he still leaves things lying about. However, he picks up well when asked – except for his room. It is like walking into the aftermath of a disaster when you open the door. Mainly because Reed is a hoarder and keeps papers, boxes, cardboard, sticks and other random trash, um, I mean “items.” I literally have to threaten to go in with a trash bag and throw it all away to get him to clean it up.
But it’s my four-year-old cyclone that really makes keeping the house tidy so difficult. Her room is a constant mess, and she is ALWAYS dragging things out all over the house. Getting Sadie-Rae to clean up is a battle at best and a complete meltdown on her part at worst. Let’s just say that training this particular child to clean up has been more difficult than training the others.
I would be happy if I could just keep the main living area from getting cluttered. I feel like it is a constant process of picking up between all the kids, myself and my husband. Oh, well, we live here and homes are meant to be lived in.
I have learned a few tricks over the years. First, daily chores are your best friend (and a good lesson for your children). Chores should be daily and weekly tasks that need to be done. Our kids are part of the family so they should help keep the house orderly. One good example is laundry. Kids are quite capable of doing their own laundry at a young age. Yes, training your children to do chores correctly is hard and it takes time but it is such a blessing when they can do it on their own! Another great tip is the “15 minute fling.” Simply set a timer for fifteen minutes and then everyone cleans a section of the house. When the timer goes off – you stop. It’s amazing what can be accomplished in that short amount of time! It also helps to have baskets stationed around the house. They can be used for toys, books or any number of things and help make cleanup quick and easy.
I wish I had a magic wand I could wave, or a least a weekly housekeeper, but I don’t, so I guess I’ll just have to clean it myself. Ultimately, I try to be grateful for our mess. We moved and it created chaos and mess, but we have a lovely new home to make memories in, so I will be thankful for each box I unpack. I have four wonderful kids and the best husband, so I will be thankful for my blessing of family and the mess that comes with it. After all, as much as I want everything perfectly tidy and in its spot and pretty, I know the real beauty is in the mess…
-by Kari Carr
About the Author: Kari doesn’t claim to be a parenting expert, just a mom to her four wonderful children and wife to the love of her life, Mike. Together they move through the ups and downs of raising kids in this crazy world. She struggles through the trials and joys of raising children from the ages of two to 15 years old. Kari received her degree at WKU and taught public middle school music and choir for seven years before opening her own business, Sound Beginnings Musikgarten & Vocal Studio. She lives and works in Bowling Green.
