Cleaning... A Balancing Act

Last night at church my sons came up to me with their friend and said they would like him to spend the night. When I said "sure", the boy pipes up and says, "My twin brother would like to come also." Oh good! Two for one. Ha ha. Of course I said yes. So today they all had such a blast together. There was no fighting over a kid because both Chaz AND Ryan had a buddy to play with. They were identical to boot! Ha ha. I could NOT tell them apart.

So my blog today is about drawing the line as to how much cleaning I do in the daytime. Today was an exception for me because my kids were so preoccupied with the twins over, they all didn't know what I was up to all day long. They were just so happy to have friends over. I used the opportunity to clean like a crazy lady getting caught up on stuff. By the end of the day, 5pm, the whole house was clean. Dinner served by six. I look around at some areas and I see messes again. I look in the bathroom after the kid's shower time and I'm horrified. Unrinsed toothbrushes on the counter, toothpaste that fell on the floor, a wet towel on the ground, dirty clothes left where they were taken off. I thought, "good grief, this bathroom was just sanitized and completely clean". I don't agree with mommy picking up after messes kids carelessly make. They just learn to be slobs. (I make them clean up their messes). Then I look in the boys room where all the kitchen chairs were brought so they could be used to prop up a tent they made. Kyle decided to empty out his old school backpack in order to see the contents. The only problem was, Kyle wasn't there. He must've lost interest and just left it on the floor. By the time the twins left, all the bedroom toys had been transferred to the living room..

So the question I ask myself, "Is it so worth it to spend so much time in the day toward a perfect house? Should I just worry mostly about the sanitary stuff?" Keeping dishes clean, toilets sanitized, Bed made, wash some clothes if needed, etc. As of now I make the kids do their chores twice a day. One in the mid morning and again before dinner time. When they do their part, it's great. What about in between those two times? Maybe I shouldn't worry about toys scattered around the living room, come 5:30pm, it's Ryan's job to clean the kid messes in the living room. What what about clothes that get left on bedroom floor? Chaz's job is making sure all clothes are in the dirty hamper at those two chore times. Ect. for books and games (cared for by Ryan), shoes left about picked up by Kyle. So maybe before, in between, and after those two chore times, I should just not worry about it and spend more time with my kids. Especially because homeschooling starts on Monday. I won't have all that time to worry about it. I'm tired of wasting my time worrying that the house STAYS clean all the time. Yet I don't want a dirty house. Sigh. It can be such a balancing act sometimes.