Not The "Leave It To Beaver" Era

It was outright said today that I don't do enough to keep our house in order.

This is not the "Leave It To Beaver" era.  Women don't dutifully take care of the household while the men bring home the bacon.  That does not mean that women are less dedicated to their families.  It just means that the responsibility of financial support and household care are contributed to by both parents.  The house being spic-and-span all of the time is just a facade in this day and age. I remember that our house was pretty clean when we were growing up.  But, by the time my parents were 30, we were 5 and 8 years old. 

I am right on board with the mantra of my motherhood era, "fake it until you make it".  One person can only do what they can do, and there's no sense in stressing about what isn't humanely possible.  I am by no means a stay at home mom.  I have worked since Lily was 5 weeks old, having returned to work way too soon by 2013 U.S. standards (the crappiest maternity standards in all the world).  We moved to a new house after the baby was born.  In fact, I've moved 5 times since just before Lily was conceived.  My own fault, but the American baby story is of the family that has 9 months to get the whole house and all of one's affairs in order before the baby comes.

We go through weeks of less cleanliness and more cleanliness.  We have a few piles that we rotate through every few weeks, but things are pretty clean.  There is practically no dust in our house.  And, I do spend every free minute that I'm not a attached to a cute, wonderful baby cleaning the house.  I do the dishes almost every day and clean off the table. I actually did the dishes 3 times in the past 24 hours, trying to stay ahead of it.  There is no more that I could do without giving up the very necessary few moments that I get to myself. 

I discovered the secret to life a few months ago.  It's be happy with where you are at, and you'll skip all of the crap that stops you from enjoying life.  I would rather spend the next 20 years being happy with a few things about than trying to kill myself to keep everything in its place.