I have had such a productive day today (stay with me… I promise there’s a point to what may appear as gloating)…

I have done:
4 loads of washing,
thoroughly cleaned our ensuite (well overdue!),
put away the piles of clothes accumulating in our dressing room,
put away a pile of each of the kids clothes,
wiped over the kitchen cupboards (because when your 3yo happens to find a tiny piece of oil pastel somewhere & practises his signature on the cupboards, there is extra cleaning involved… with his help!),
changed the sheets on the twins cots & vacuumed their room,
& did the same for Mr 3, including sanding some patching that I’d stupidly done in an OCD episode I had a few weeks back…
All while either involving the kids & getting them to help, or watching them play outside, or while they played inside, or while they slept.

Now to the points I want to make…
Some may read this & compare to what they did today & feel like they have done more, & some may feel like they have done less. When I read my list, I see – that this is not my everyday. That I have piles of washing around the house, I have jobs that don’t get done as often as they should, I have a mountain of washing that never ends, I never have an empty house (there’s always 3 crazy & very loveable kids running around), I wish I could split myself in 2 so that one of me cleaned while the other played with the kids, I have a child (actually 3) who does testing things, I have a big house that takes forever to clean, I have less cleaning time these days (because I have 3 kids to share my time with) & I have to prioritise my cleaning, I don’t have productive cleaning days every day. These are some of my circumstances.

We are all different & our circumstances are all different. Some of us have 1 child, some of us have multiple. Some of us work, some of us stay home. Some of us have cleaners, some of us don’t. Some of us have smaller houses, some of us have bigger houses. We all choose to spend our time differently…

Over the weekend, I found myself getting into a tizz about the state of the house before some friends arrived, despite having spent a couple of hours cleaning beforehand. I reflected on it later & how I was falling into the trap of comparison & putting too many expectations on myself in our circumstances. It wasn’t until my hubby looked at me & said the words, ‘I’m happy in our home’, that I was reminded of the most important thing – that we are happy.

It can be so easy to get caught up in comparing our homes to our friends & families or to those we see on social media, & to feel inadequate. The mind has a funny way of doing that. But the next time you find your mind wandering to all the things you haven’t done or how your house doesn’t look a certain way, just remember that you are doing enough in your circumstances & that the most important thing is that you are happy & comfortable