If i'm being completely honest, homemaking on top of work, parenting, and social time sometimes seems like such a lot of extra effort on top of an already busy lifestyle, and is quite frankly a pain. It can be hard, (Note: the tasks themselves aren’t hard. It’s just the upkeep of everything.) Especially if you have little ones underfoot, like me. Half the time it feels like I spend the entire morning cleaning this space only to feel as if I never lifted a finger within the next hour.
I can't be the only one who feels this way..
It’s not that I hate every aspect of it. I actually really enjoy cooking, and I don’t mind the washing that much either. It’s just the never-endingness of it all.
There are literally about a thousand other things I’d rather be doing, important things too!
Like spending quality time with my family, educating my son in preparation for school next year, working, studying, showering…You know, actually LIVING life like I always intend to, taking photos and creating memories, soothing my soul and growing as a person.. NOT cleaning.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could all just go on strike and not have to do it anymore? (no pressure!)
So I sort of did.
It wasn’t an actual strike. What happened was I was amidst a Lupus flare up & aside from my most used joints seizing up, I had ZERO energy, and so I just stopped doing 90% of the housework. I had maybe two hours of energy in me over the course of the day, but then after that, I’d just lay on the sofa the rest of the day with the kid watching Disney films while he occasionally popped off to destroy the house. This place was a STATE.
You would think that I would be glad for some time off .. what could be better than laying on the sofa all day watching TV while my child and partner had to pick up my slack?
Turns out, a life without housework isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be.
Housework may not be fun, but it is incredibly important. Here’s why.
1. Housework is good for the SOUL: Need to learn love, patience, and servant leadership? Cleaning up endless unnecessary messes is a great way to do that! I felt so LAZY just lying around all day. Also, when the house is a mess then so is my mood, until the housework has been sorted I feel about as useless and unfulfilled as the empty washing machine I should be putting to use.
2. It teaches your children important life lessons: The housework motto around here is “Everybody helps.” Cleaning isn’t a punishment for my son; it’s an inescapable part of life, and because of that, he is learning important lessons such as teamwork, pitching in, self-discipline, prioritisation and of course, how to clean. Not to mention shaping him into a respectful young man with good morals and values who will one day grow to be one hell of a catch for whichever lucky soul he should have for a partner! I can't think of anything worse than my child being raised lazy & self entitled because he was waited on hand & foot and has no appreciation for the work done by the household because he has never had to do it for himself. Start them young I say, while they are happy to help and enthusiastic to join in.
3. It makes for a nicer home: Since my energy is finally returning and this place is looking a little better, let me just tell you–our home feels totally different now too! A clean home is far more relaxing, comfortable, and more like a home. A cluttered home = a cluttered mind, and being Bipolar it affects me in the worst ways imaginable. Once the housework is done I can relax and spend time doing things I enjoy, wholeheartedly (without repeating the list of chores I need to do over & over in my mind until they're done, and driving myself insane in the process).
4. It makes for a smoother morning: How stressful is it when you can’t find your keys, you have to wash dishes in order to eat anything, you’re constantly running out of food or ingredients, or your shopping budget is badly out of whack? Keeping up with the housework eliminates 99% of these problems (and all of the stress, anger and other negative things that come with). I personally have an amazing start to the day when I've done what I needed to in order to free up my time so I can get on with whatever I damn well want. FREEDOM.
So I came to a realisation..Yes housework is long, and boring, and a bit pointless when you don't have guests to impress, when you think about it that way, but it is an important part of our daily lives - change your perspective and everything else will follow! Put on some tunes, get the kids involved & declutter your space, mind and day. Mental will & discipline are both muscles of the brain that must be worked on daily - and that, TidyTimers is where the housework comes in.
Stay positive! It's been emotional.
I can't be the only one who feels this way..
It’s not that I hate every aspect of it. I actually really enjoy cooking, and I don’t mind the washing that much either. It’s just the never-endingness of it all.
There are literally about a thousand other things I’d rather be doing, important things too!
Like spending quality time with my family, educating my son in preparation for school next year, working, studying, showering…You know, actually LIVING life like I always intend to, taking photos and creating memories, soothing my soul and growing as a person.. NOT cleaning.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could all just go on strike and not have to do it anymore? (no pressure!)
So I sort of did.
It wasn’t an actual strike. What happened was I was amidst a Lupus flare up & aside from my most used joints seizing up, I had ZERO energy, and so I just stopped doing 90% of the housework. I had maybe two hours of energy in me over the course of the day, but then after that, I’d just lay on the sofa the rest of the day with the kid watching Disney films while he occasionally popped off to destroy the house. This place was a STATE.
You would think that I would be glad for some time off .. what could be better than laying on the sofa all day watching TV while my child and partner had to pick up my slack?
Turns out, a life without housework isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be.
Housework may not be fun, but it is incredibly important. Here’s why.
1. Housework is good for the SOUL: Need to learn love, patience, and servant leadership? Cleaning up endless unnecessary messes is a great way to do that! I felt so LAZY just lying around all day. Also, when the house is a mess then so is my mood, until the housework has been sorted I feel about as useless and unfulfilled as the empty washing machine I should be putting to use.
2. It teaches your children important life lessons: The housework motto around here is “Everybody helps.” Cleaning isn’t a punishment for my son; it’s an inescapable part of life, and because of that, he is learning important lessons such as teamwork, pitching in, self-discipline, prioritisation and of course, how to clean. Not to mention shaping him into a respectful young man with good morals and values who will one day grow to be one hell of a catch for whichever lucky soul he should have for a partner! I can't think of anything worse than my child being raised lazy & self entitled because he was waited on hand & foot and has no appreciation for the work done by the household because he has never had to do it for himself. Start them young I say, while they are happy to help and enthusiastic to join in.
3. It makes for a nicer home: Since my energy is finally returning and this place is looking a little better, let me just tell you–our home feels totally different now too! A clean home is far more relaxing, comfortable, and more like a home. A cluttered home = a cluttered mind, and being Bipolar it affects me in the worst ways imaginable. Once the housework is done I can relax and spend time doing things I enjoy, wholeheartedly (without repeating the list of chores I need to do over & over in my mind until they're done, and driving myself insane in the process).
4. It makes for a smoother morning: How stressful is it when you can’t find your keys, you have to wash dishes in order to eat anything, you’re constantly running out of food or ingredients, or your shopping budget is badly out of whack? Keeping up with the housework eliminates 99% of these problems (and all of the stress, anger and other negative things that come with). I personally have an amazing start to the day when I've done what I needed to in order to free up my time so I can get on with whatever I damn well want. FREEDOM.
So I came to a realisation..Yes housework is long, and boring, and a bit pointless when you don't have guests to impress, when you think about it that way, but it is an important part of our daily lives - change your perspective and everything else will follow! Put on some tunes, get the kids involved & declutter your space, mind and day. Mental will & discipline are both muscles of the brain that must be worked on daily - and that, TidyTimers is where the housework comes in.
Stay positive! It's been emotional.