Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Say YES! to the mess

I have been inspired.

One of my dearest friends has the greatest resolution for the new year.  She is going to stress less about her house being spotless and get down on the floor and play with her 3 children more.  Not only is she going to stress less, but take action and not worry about the mess until the kids are in bed.  They have a full time playmate ALL day with no waiting!

I have been doing this for the past couple of days.  There is no "oh just a minute, I can play after I do..." I am right there and ready to follow wherever Caroline's imagination takes us.  I am way happier and less concerned about when I am going to get the everyday tasks done.  They will get done, but later.  There is no later for playing with my witty and still-so-small three year old and my potbelly, kiss smacking one year old.

I don't plan to live in a pigsty, I really really enjoy cleanliness.  But as my friend said, "Don't judge me if you come over and the house is a mess.  Just smile and know I am sticking to my new routine!"
Thanks for the inspiration Jess!  I have enjoyed the days of non-stop play immensely, and I know the girls do as well.

So we hope to have a lot less waiting,
and A LOT more playing!!
(no we don't have this much snow in D.C., these were taken in Utah at Christmas!)

8 comments:

The Winegar's said...

Great plan!! The girls will remember the fun times they have had playing with you. You can clean up the "mess" during naptime or later.

That was a fun day playing in the snow, wasn't it?

Britters and Parx said...

I love this!!!!! Thank you for inspiring me too. Cuz really, 20 years from now the memories are what will matter more than if your toilet was scrubbed weekly...right??? Love ya Andrea!!!

Gardner's said...

yay! We can do this right!! I loved reading this it rejuvinated me to keep trying. Oh Andrea, I am failing!! I never realized how hard this was going to be! I have some serious cleaning habits (funny in this situation that that is not a good thing!HA) I am seriously struggling with this but now I am going to try to stick with it! It is way more fun knowing I am not doing this on my own! I love those sledding pictures...Your sweet girls have the best smiles ever! shouldn't it be easy playing all day with these sweethearts? I can't figure out why it is so hard!! hmm...

Jamilyn said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Here And Happy! said...

I don't regret the time I spent playing with my little kids. We used to do FTF--"Find The Floor" before daddy came home from work. No use beginning prior to about 30 minutes before arrival. We pulled it off most days. You're a wonderful mom.

Marie Lefler said...

Hey remember me? Marie, Adam's madrigal friend (blonde w/the 3 kids)?

I told Adam that I blog stalk once in a while and he told me to write a comment the next time. So here I am.

I am actually trying to do more of this as well. I actually gave a talk in church last month about Pres. Utchdorf's talk, "Of Things That Matter Most." It really hit home to what I should be doing...working less, playing more and taking time to love and teach my children and be the Mother I want to be. You are only a reminder of what I need to keep doing.

Keep up the good work!

Too bad you had to leave early from the party, next time we'll have to hang out & have our children play. Caroline & Gwen would just have a ball together. Two little princesses.

Lauren Stuart and Madeline Jane said...

I Love these pictures! You have such a darling family. Who took the pics of Caroline and Olive in those cute red tutu's??

Lauren Stuart and Madeline Jane said...

Oh, I LOVE what you said about putting everything aside and playing with the kids. We all get so caught up in our routines that we forget. What a great message! Miss you guys!!!