For When You Can’t Keep Up

Sometimes you just can’t keep up.

The floors are dirty.

The rooms are strewn with clutter.

The dishes are piled up.

The meals are inferior, at best.

The laundry is behind.

The bathrooms are unpleasant.

You have phone calls to return.

You have emails to respond to.

You’re tired.

You’re weary.

You’re sick.

You’re depressed.

And it all seems so futile.

What can you do?

I’m not here to tell you really can keep up. I’m not here to tell you to stop trying. I’m here to tell you that even though you can’t keep up you probably can keep things from going completely down the drain (Tweet This). That is, if you’re able to read this post and you’re not confined to bed.

Don’t give up.

It’s not futile. Here are 12 things to remember when you can’t keep up.

#1 It’s okay to not do what you’re not able to do.

#2 It’s okay sweep the worst dirt out of the middle of the floor and skip the rest.

#3 It’s okay to spot mop instead of truly mopping a floor. Three weeks in a row.

#4 It’s okay to wash dishes once a day.

#5 It’s okay to feed your family inferior meals. It’s better than junk. Or nothing.

#6 It’s okay to make mistakes.

#7 It’s okay to dress from the dryer.

#8 It’s okay to consider emptying the trash and restocking the toilet paper “cleaning the bathroom.”

#9 It’s okay to cry.

#10 It’s okay to be an inferior homemaker. You’re making a home, not winning a contest.

#11 It’s okay to rest even when everything isn’t done.

#12 It’s okay to play even before everything is done. Work first, play second, but don’t wait until everything is perfect. That might be next week, or next month, or five years from now. Or never.

But isn’t there something wrong with me?

I don’t know what your situation is ~ and maybe you don’t either. I’m sure “not keeping up” is sometimes caused by laziness, carelessness, selfishness, bad habits of procrastination and neglect, and other faults on the part of homemakers.

I’m equally sure it is often not.

Perfection is wonderful when it is achieved. It is not wonderful when it is used to make you feel guilty for things over which you have no control (Tweet) or to intimidate you into doing nothing because what little you could do would not be good enough (Tweet).

Little things matter

Get up and do something little to make things better or to keep them from getting worse (Tweet This).

Unless you’re confined to bed, in which case you have my permission to stay there until you’re able to get up.

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