One "Not So Perfect" Looking Home

Saturday has become my "official" clean-up day! It just seems to work well for us. Saturday was actually clean-up day at my house growing up as well. Did your family have an "official" clean-up day and if so, what day was it? This past Saturday I was mopping our wood floors and doing some general "house cleaning" and I glanced over at Elizabeth and this is what I saw! :) I just had to stop and grab my camera!
Isn't she sweet!?! I think all Mommy's cleaning must have wore her out. :)
Do any of you out there live with guilt of not having a "PERFECT" house for your family everyday! I'll be the first to confess, I do!!! And, we certainly do not have a "perfect" house!
In my dreamworld, my house would look just like a page out of House Beautiful magazine all the time, with kids and all. But... I'm discovering unless you have a full-time maid running around constantly, it's simply not possible. I attend a wonderful Bible Study every Thursday called M.O.M.S. (Making Our Mothering Significant) and we are actually doing a study right now on "Mothering Without Guilt". When I first heard the topic, I thought, "Hmmm, guilt...? I don't have any guilt with mothering." Ha! Who was I kidding!?! In actuality I do, more then I realized. However..., I do know that we, as mothers, are not to live under this kind of worry. Our roles as mothers are simply to love and teach our young well and not to strive as the world strives to provide the most "perfect-looking" house on the block. A good friend of mine, Laura has a wonderful and fun blog where she has been posting a "Mess of the Week" picture every week. I love that idea! Thanks Laura for keeping it "real" for all of us. Keep those "messes" coming! :)
Mess we do have at times at our home but the best advice I can give on this subject was given to me before the birth of my first daughter. A sweet older lady at our church told me to be sure and "love and enjoy my daughter all I could" and to "not let the little worries of the house being so perfect get in the way of what was truly important". She said that "all that house stuff can just wait but loving that baby well can't". So, yes... it's important to keep things picked up and clean as much as possible, BUT keep in mind what another good friend of mine says about her family. She says, "We don't make messes, we make memories." I love that! :)

We're "making messes" until next time...