Dirty houses don't matter...

Todd had to work late last night, so I was single-parenting again. And to be honest, minus the fact that I miss having my husband home and Nick misses his Daddy (and I know Todd misses us, too), I don't mind single-parent nights. I get to focus all my attention on Nick, playing with him on the floor and tossing him in the air. Giggling and clapping as we eat dinner, and snuggling as he has his last bottle before bed.


But after I put Nick to bed, I tiptoed downstairs, looked around the house and decided I had "given up" for the night. There were toys strewn across the living room. Blocks under the couch, stuffed animals under the coffee table. Leftover chicken and mashed potatoes on the high chair tray and a half-full sippy cup of water covered in tiny, sticky hand prints. A sink full of dirty dishes and a dishwasher full of clean ones waiting to be put away. Mail was aimlessly scattered on the kitchen island, and shoes were spread out through the foyer hallway.



For a moment, I tried to give myself a pep-talk and convince myself that I could get it all cleaned up before I too went to bed. But the pep-talk lost to the TV. And I felt terribly guilty for having not focused on the household chores, and instead spending my evening laying on the living room floors running cars into stacks of blocks. I chided myself for not being more of a grown-up and acting like a mommy who has it altogether and keeps her house spic & span, while keeping her near-tantrum-throwing-aged 10.5 month old from melting down from lack of attention or hunger pains.



I went to bed feeling unaccomplished and lazy.



So after I dropped Nick at daycare this morning, I came home and picked up all the toys and straightened up the living room. I emptied the dishwasher, refilled it with the dirty dishes, and scrubbed the pots & pans by hand. I attempted to straighten the mess of mail on the island, and I swept the kitchen floor. Then I commenced with my morning blog reading. And as I hopped around the blogosphere, I came across this quote:



"The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow...But children grow up as I've learned to my sorrow. So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep! I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep." - Ruth Hulbert Hamilton



And all that guilt faded away. I had not gone to bed unaccomplished or lazy. I had cared for my child. I had spent time with the most precious part of my life. I had made him feel loved, and safe, and cared for. All of those fleeting moments that I get to spend with my sweet baby -- who won't be a baby for long -- are worth every single crumb, dust spec, and misplaced item. For he is the greatest accomplishment of my life.