By Kara Vanderpool Ward
Machine wash: HOT
Some days I’m amazing at my job. Some days I lay my head down feeling like parent of the year. Rarely do those two things happen at once, and I’m learning to be okay with that! Don’t believe me? Well let me air my dirty laundry – literally. See that picture with this post? It is a real life picture of my laundry room, so full, laundry is spilling out into the hall alongside the suitcase my husband left there upon returning from his business trip – FIVE DAYS AGO. Brave isn’t it? To let all of America see what a hot mess I am? It shouldn’t be, and here’s why.
That description, that picture, well it’s more like every other household I know with two working parents with kids than not. Scratch that, it’s like every other household ever – or at least the ones missing a Rosie ala the Jetsons (did I just age myself?) So there, I just let your secret out of the bag too! So why is that we are constantly apologizing to each other for not living the picture perfect life we think everybody else is living?
Here’s the thing. That laundry pile isn’t going anywhere. So each day I wake up and confidently step over it. I no longer give it a second thought as I head downstairs to start my day. A day that begins with two bed headed teenagers wandering aimlessly into the kitchen thoughtfully declaring that we have no food for breakfast, p.s. we do, albeit not the food they want. I look around at the dishes left in the sink from late night snacks, the backpacks left open on the kitchen island, the parade of partner-less shoes across the family room floor, and the endless shopping list stuck to the fingerprint laden refrigerator. It’s a mess and so am I most of the time, but If that mess wasn’t there it would mean my kids weren’t there, and that is a far more scary idea then tackling those endless lists of chores.
So fresh and so clean…
So on this Mother’s Day, let’s band together and #honorthemess! Rather than be tied to the daily demands of life, simply repeat the mantra “I will honor the mess.” After all it’s what puts the life into our homes and the reason we have a day to celebrate being a Mother.
Just in case the right folks are reading this, I still wouldn’t mind a Rosie… Happy Mother’s Day!
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