Smudges on the wall

For the past few years I've been striving for this goal, which I thought was really important. I mean, other people told me it was important, so I figured it was. But yesterday as I noticed a smudge of some kind of food hardened on the wall of our cupboards, it donned on me that a perfectly clean and organized home isn't all that great.

I mean, the pictures you see in magazines or room 're-dos' on TV shows DO look beautiful. But it lacks one big thing-LIFE! Then I thought, why am I trying to make our home look as if there are no children in it? What am I trying to prove- is being a perfect housekeeper really a realistic goal?

See, I have a friend who keeps an absolutely spotless house. It blows my mind because she has a 10 year old and a 2.5 year old and it just seems so effortless for her. However, I don't see all the work that is involved with it. But I'm not her, and my family isn't her family, so I shouldn't be comparing myself with her. I know I wouldn't want her to compare herself with me.

So, I realize now that stickies on the chairs, smudges on the door facings, scattered pieces of a dollhouse and a trail of dry cereal on the floor isn't a catastrophe anymore. They are signs of life- of little lives that are sweet and innocent and precious. I'm actually thankful now that I have messes to clean up, for how empty a perfectly kept home would be without these little ones, and I know I would wish I could clean up their messes if I were childless.