Sometimes, the mess is worth it

I am not a naturally tidy person. Have I said that before? Well it's true. For me, trying to keep up with house cleaning is like paddling upstream in a holey canoe. But I really do try, even if you can't tell by looking at our home.

However, I used to get really stressed out if there was a major mess occurring before my eyes. I would find myself trying to organize as Max was pouring out boxes and boxes of toys, or putting the books back on the shelf right behind my little toddler as he pulled each one off and dropped it on the floor.

I had an epiphany when I was pregnant with Lucian. I was tired and feeling sick, and Max had found my CD case(upwards of 100 CDs) on the bookshelf. He commenced to pulling out each CD, stacking it in a pile, and moving every CD booklet into a pocket in the front of the case. I went to stop him, then realized that this game of his would give me an opportunity to sit on the couch and rest for a good 20 minutes. That sounded much more appealing than attempting to stop him or clean up behind him as he made his mess. When he was done and had moved on to something else, I picked everything up and put it away on a higher shelf.

Since then, I have used this tactic to gain myself a few moments here and there, and I have realized that the cleanup usually isn't as bad as I think it will be! So, we recently got a package in the mail, which came in a box full of packing peanuts.

See where this is going?

I was able to get dinner started while Max entertained himself for a looooong stretch of time... cleanup on this one required a broom and vacuum, but it really was worth it!