The Perfect Mother, Wife, and Housekeeper

I was watching tv the other night and saw the mother with 16 children. She had this beautiful house, her children were dressed, their hair was combed, not a toy was out of place, and yes - the children were actually getting along. How rare is that?

This made me take a look at my own home. I have 7 children, half are still in their pjs, the others have mismatched clothes. Most of these children are currently arguing and/or fighting over stupid toys, and screaming at me to do something about the other kids messing with them. The dishes are piled in the sink, the kitchen floor is in desperate need of being mopped, and toys are scattered in every single room of my house (including my bedroom).

But then I remind myself, she was on camera, and I'm not. I bet you anything if I knew a tv crew was going to be filming me that I would look like the perfect mother. My children would be dressed in matching clothes, not a dish would be out of place in my house, and by gosh by golly - the cobwebs would be OUT of the corners of the walls!!

Alas, that's not the case. So for now my poor children will have to make do with a stressed out mommy who sometimes manages to find matching socks for them to wear. My husband will have to tolerate a wife who is usually too tired and worn out to give him the attention he craves. My house will always be in need of dire housekeeping upkeep.

But you know what? My children will be happy (most of the time), my husband will be satisfied (most of the time), and my house will be clean enough to live in, even if it is cluttered. I'm not supermom. I never claimed to be. I'm just your every day stressed out mommy to many. Someone who knows her limits and has children too young to really help out much, but old enough to create massive amounts of clutter and issues. I'm a wife who has a loving supportive husband who tries to help out, but who thinks helping me clean out the closets and garage are ways of getting the house looking good.

And know what else? I'm happy - most of the time - with the way my life has turned out. Yes I'd love to be the perfect mother of many; but it's not going to happen in this lifetime. So I'll settle for being one who struggles but gets through each day (even as I count down the minutes until I can drop a few off at daycare!!). And I'll remind myself that God doesn't give us more than we can handle - even though sometimes I wonder about that. So I will survive. And so will my family - whether they like it or not.