I don't wanna and you can't make me!
Okay, maybe you can't make me, but I'm sure somebody somewhere could. I always hate those stupid memes that say, "If you could have one, which one would you choose" And the options vary, but typically they involve the jobs of home care. So the most common that I have seen are chef, housekeeper, and nanny. It's funny, but it doesn't matter whatever combination or selection amount thereof, I always choose the same thing. MAID/HOUSEKEEPER. Let's face it, everything I hate is involving cleaning. As I was bent over under my dining room table cleaning up crumbs, I truly understood why. It's constant. I have cleaned my counters, walked away, and found something else on my counters. It's unnerving how frustrating cleaning is. Let's think about the other two top options. We'll start with the personal chef. Okay, this one isn't the best for me to begin with because I love to cook. However, a cook will give you a great (you hope) meal. If it were my house, I would want nutritional value plus taste. They cook a fantastic meal and then, it's done. I eat it, I don't. Leftovers, no leftovers. The service is done. Sure, they repeat each meal, but I know I'm not the only one that says, "Oh I'll just grab a ... for dinner/lunch/snack." Sometimes you don't want a full meal with exquisite plating techniques. Sometimes you just want some Ramen. Or better yet, you want your grandmother's recipe, not some bum from the finest culinary school that would do it "the right way." You know what I mean. Sure the recipe calls for unsalted butter, but Grandmammie liked it with lard. The nanny part I understand. As a work from home mama I am in need of some solo time. I need to keep my focus on something - literally anything- while kids are talking to me, asking for food, needing help with schoolwork, playing loudly, and whatever else. Oh what I would give for one hour a day before lunch but after 830 that I had all to myself. How productive could I be?? Dreams of yesteryear. And then you have those days where someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed. It makes everyone else wish to throw them back in and strap them down. How nice it would be to look at any other human and say, "This is what you're paid to handle!" Then, of course, you would go to Target, grab a latte, and shop with your RedCard as if you were untouchable. But again, do you want your children to be the product of someone else's hard work? There is no greater joy than hearing a complement about my children. That comes from me putting in the time. If I had a nanny, it would be from them putting in the work. Then I would need to give her a bonus or something- a childless trip to target? No, I want my children with me. That is why I made the choice to stay home after all. So let's talk about that housekeeper/maid situation. Someone else would clean the bathrooms. Someone else would clean my floors. Someone else would wipe counter tops and clean off fingerprints and face smudges from my storm door. That is the forever gift. Look, I don't need, nor do I want, someone to do my laundry. I do that two to three times a week - knock out a couple loads at a time. Wash, dry, fold, put away. BAM! - I don't want someone folding my undies. Heck, I lose pairs all the time lately (the last place to check is my son's drawers for my missing pieces) I couldn't imagine if a pair of something went missing and someone else was doing my laundry! I would freak. Besides, laundry is controlable. As long as you have enough to get by until the next load, sing a song of blessing and wear that t shirt that you didn't realize still existed. But house keeping is intense. It is a daily thing. Two kids, a husband, and myself all make crumbs. We all have little "spooges" that get on the counters, and sometimes the floors. You can't leave that junk! The ants and palmetto bugs will make your home their favorite restaurant. Ew. So it's daily. I would love to have one day where I didn't pick up the towel that cleans my counters. I would like one day where I walked across my floor barefooted and didn't say, "Ugh what was that?" But here I am. Day after day. Repetitive cleaning sucks. There. I said it. It's kind of that way with the rest of our lives, isn't it? If you are an addict, and by that I mean carry the gene of addiction, things can get difficult. It might be easy to turn down alcohol if you don't like the taste, but maybe chocolate has you beat. Or maybe you can handle never looking at porn because you don't care to try it, but those motrins aren't cutting it anymore. It's constant maintenance cleaning. It doesn't have to be for addicts either. For some people there is just one sin that no matter how many times we try to clean it up, we run back to it. It needs to be swept again. It needs to be scrubbed again. We can fuel ourselves. We can handle the people around us. We can clothe ourselves and make things look alright on the outsides, but the constant cleaning up inside is tedious, frustrating, and so much more. After all, it wasn't our fault there was traffic and that stressed us out and now we need chocolate ice cream! Or hey, it's my boss at work that's the problem, not the job itself. He's a jerk and now I need a more pain relievers. Whether it's my house or my soul, I hate continual cleaning. Thankfully I found Jesus and between him and the Holy Spirit they clean me up bit by bit. When I relinquish control I allow them to work within me. My desires for the ill (over eating, anger, excessive exercise which allows for the eating) diminish slowly. My desires for the good (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control) increase. God is good. His mercy is my soul's housekeeper.
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May 2023
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