The twins "playing kitchen" in their nursery
There are days when raising five children feels like Mission Impossible. Couple that with my perfectionistic tendencies and failure seems inevitable.
Which is to say, when I look at the laundry pile, I get so anxious about being far behind that I tend to close the door and let the pile grow higher.
Of course, this only adds to my frustration and anxiety. Seriously, sock management could be a full-time job at my house.
One way I've learned to manage a big family is by giving myself permission to do a job badly.
WHAT?!
You heard me. If it's a job worth doing, it's worth doing badly.
Take that, Martha Stewart!
At my house, a job well done means: it's done. Sometimes it doesn't look pretty. But I think pretty is over-rated. My sons often wear mismatched socks. I'm cool with that.
At least they're wearing socks.
Sometimes my oldest son forgets to sweep under the table. Now, if he's rushing to finish, I make him re-do it. But if he gives a good effort, I give him a high-five.
At least the floor around the table got swept.
I don't have fancy china and even if I did, we'd probably end up eating dinner on paper plates like we usually do.
At least we eat dinner together every night.
I guess you could boil my family-management philosophy down to a few words: do small things right.
I pick one or two things to do right each day. And then I celebrate that!
My life is full. But I don't want it to be busy.
The busier I am, the less connected I feel to my primary relationships.
And honestly, if my relationships are suffering--it doesn't matter if I conquer the housecleaning every day.
However, I would like to conquer the Evil Sock-Eating Monster once and for all. Any ideas?
