Clean House? Messy House? Does it Matter?

Is a Clean House important?

I'm going over to a friends house today. She is a mother to five precious children. Four out of the five kids are age 5 and under. She messaged me earlier and said her house looked like a bomb went off in it and she was stressing about what I would think of her when I saw it.

I loved the honesty of that statement.

We ALL feel that way!

But WHY?! 

Why do we all think we are going to be looked down on for how our homes look? Judged by how our kids effect the look of our homes and the mess level? 

Photo Credit: mylifesuckers.com

WE ARE MOMS!

We have young children. Our houses are often, if not always, messy. No judgement from me! I find a messy house that is full of children a beautiful thing. :)

Now, I do have to admit my house is usually clean. It's usually put together, but there are several factors that contribute to that:

1) I have got rid of 60-70% of my stuff which makes it a million times easier to keep clean (I have LESS to keep clean and tidy).

2) I have ONE little one, vs FOUR to clean up after.

3) My older girls help out regularly with keeping the house in order which means there is a ratio of 4-1. Four that clean up after themselves vs one that can't yet.

4) And lastly, and probably most important, I LIKE cleaning... Yes, I'm weird. I enjoy the process of cleaning and seeing the results. I love the peace of a neat home. It's something I personally enjoy which is the main reason we have a neat house... most of the time.

But here's the thing Mama.
We DO NOT have to have a clean house and honestly, with little ones, it's incredibly hard to get and keep anything clean even for an hour! Let's not look at our houses as gauges of our success but let's look at the love that flows through our house, at the atmosphere we promote in our home to gauge it's beauty. A HAPPY home is a beautiful home NOT a clean one!

Photo Credit: pactcharity.org

Much love,

-Joy