Who Wrote This? I Suspect the Kids…

I have been seeing this quote all over Pinterest about how good Moms have sticky floors, messy kitchens and happy kids. At first I thought it was a cute saying, but after a month of both kids home everyday for summer–I think it was written by the kids! Lately it seems like there are two tornadoes in my house and it is getting to the point where it’s ridiculous. Each morning the boys, ages five and three, wake up and toss the pillows and blankets from the couch onto the floor (as if I had them in the wrong place). Then comes the paper and several toys they are not playing with that are also tossed into the middle of the room. I know the quote is meant to mean that the Mom is putting housework aside to be with the children, but I do not know too many Moms that do not get really stressed when the house is a crazy mess for days on end.

I am currently reading a parenting book that gives an example of a mom cleaning up after her 14 year old son everyday. The author sees her cleaning the big mess while the 14 year old is sitting doing nothing and tells her he feels sorry for her son’s future wife! I have been thinking about this. If the kids, even though they are still young, just walk around throwing everything on the floor and I pick it up, those may be happy kids but what kind of adults will they be?

I always think of my best friend in elementary school. We would all walk home from school together and her younger brother would take off his shoes and drop them on the sidewalk, and then do the same with his books and jacket. As he littered the sidewalk, she would walk behind and pick everything up and carry it along with her own things. I remember telling her to leave it. She said her mom would get so mad at her if she saw him drop his shoes and just left them there. As a parent now, I can see both sides. I would be mad if my eldest saw my youngest leave his things and didn’t tell me. However, her brother should not have thought it was okay to drop everything and assume she would pick it up!

I am thinking I need to have a clean up session every time we are about to go somewhere fun like the pool or park. I should just sit on the couch and wait. Because I do not feel like a good mom when the laundry is piled to the ceiling, the floors are sticky, and the dishes are all over the counters. Instead I feel like a stressed out mom! That’s not to say the occasional mess isn’t allowed, but I would like them to have some responsibility so that they learn not to throw things on the floor just because they can.

What does everyone think? Are you happy when your floors are sticky and the dishes are piled to the ceiling? Clean up one mess before moving to another? Just constantly pick up after them? I would love to hear your thoughts on it.