Announcement for Mom's Everywhere . . .

Attention everyone!

I have an announcement for Mom's everywhere. I just want to clear up any confusion or misconceptions about how clean and tidy your home will be once the kids start leaving home.

I certainly always thought that once the kids were living away from home, it was be domestic bliss personified. I mean, after all, if the kids are gone, who is there to make a mess, leave papers, backpacks and shoes laying around, track dirt in from outside, spill cookie crumbs and soda on the carpets?

Surely, once you tidied things all up, did all the dishes, made up the beds (what beds would even need to be made up you would wonder?) things would stay pristine, and one could just bask in the enjoyment and cleanliness.

Wow, was I mistaken all these years. I blamed all the clutter, dirty dishes, laundry piles, dirty carpets on the fact that I had four kids living at home, running in and out and messing everything up. But what to my wondering brain should appear - it must be me and the husband who are making this mess after all! Because it's all still here, shoes, backpacks, sinks full of dishes, piles of laundry waiting to be folded. The only thing that's missing is 8 little helping hands. It's amazing what can be accomplished with 8 little helping hands.



I remember our family work days on Saturday. Everyone received assignments for 45 minutes worth of jobs and the house was sparkling from top to bottom. Now days, my 45 minutes worth on Saturday doesn't even get the master bathroom scrubbed. You know I think those same kids (minus one) are still running in and out just about as frequently. They just don't stay long enough for the weekly job assignments to be handed out. And I know they are doing their jobs in their own homes. Which brings up an entirely different question? How is it that their house is so much cleaner than mine?

What parenting stage is this? And how long does it last?