Picture perfect?
Picture this. Piles of clean unfolded laundry. Bowels and measuring cups stuck with dough. A crock-pot, soaking, from last week's Shabbos cholent*. A floor begging to be vacuumed and a toddler (or two) running around pulling books off the shelves. To top it all off, your husband is due home in an hour and you have no idea what you're making for dinner!
It's happens to all of us at least once. For others, it may be a weekly (or even daily!) occurrence. I've been there, and it's difficult. After you start slipping on one or two things, everything else seems to follow suit.
Why does this happen?
I've found, though, that these things do not happen because we're lazy or incapable. And believe it or not, it's not even about having the time. It's all about feeling inspired. If we don't feel that our job is important, then we let go of it. If we were being paid to clean someone else's house, then we'd do a great job! We don't take our home seriously and things start going crazy.
Why don't we take it seriously? Consider the following...
- Homemaking is not respected. - I was in the pet shop when a very nice woman was making conversation with me. Innocently, she asked me, "Are you just a homemaker?" Umm... ya, "just" a homemaker. It's stings. Of course, she meant nothing by saying what she said - but all the same, it hurt.
- We don't feel rewarded. - Well, unless you are a professional maid, you don't receive a paycheck in the end. Not even a nice report card saying "A+"! There is a reason we reward our children for cooperating or helping us out. People like to aim for a goal. No one will dig holes in the ground for no reason at all. But if you pay them, then it's a different story...
- We think it should come naturally. -- There are very few Martha Stewarts in the world, and there is a reason for that! Some people are born organizers. The rest of us need to learn how, and no, it's silly to feel stupid for not knowing how to keep your home neat! It's a learned skill, and even if you're not "naturally neat", you can learn how to become so.
- We don't think it's important. - Does it really matter if the clothes are folded, the dishes are clean and the bookshelves are organized? Just like society trains us to view homemaking in a negative light, so to we view the results of homemaking unimportant. But that's not true! It IS very important!! I'll explain below...
