Priorities

You know how it goes. You meet someone for the the first time. Or, someone you've known a while is sharing about something that's happened recently.

It could be that they felt that housework could wait a day or two while they spent time with family. Or, that they spent all morning cleaning their bathroom with a toothbrush.

Maybe a little extra money came their way and they spent it on a new gadget. Or, that they splurged on a bottle of wine.

Is that first person a bad housekeeper? The second an overachiever? The third wasting their money on technology they don't need. The fourth a excessive drinker.

Or none of the above?

I've been struggling lately with the whole what's-expected-of-me-according-to-a-variety-of-people and how do I see my job as the keeper of the home and hearth of the Viking Hus.

I'm working as hard as I know how on all that I can manage around the house and yet I'm often embarrassed when people stop by unexpectedly. Dishes in the sink, food on the floor, toilet's dirty, piles of "in process" papers on several surfaces, laundry in process of being folded on the couch.

I go to other moms' homes for play dates and such and everyone else's homes seem spotless and organized. Their things nicer and cleaner. LOL And, yet, I always wanted a home that was "lived in" instead of a "museum" where the kids can't touch, can't play, can't just "be."

My kids' rooms may not be spotless but they are cleaner than they were a month ago before our latest job chart. My kids are still learning how to care for their things and what to do if they have too many things.

While I'm the first to admit to being a control freak of sorts, one of my goals is to let the kids have some freedom (within reason) and to be able to live without me harping on them constantly about how clean everything should be.

Ninety percent of the time I'm OK with the decisions I make about how and when and how much housework and chores get done. But, occasionally, an interaction with an outside source throws me into a tizzy of re-examining everything I'm doing.

I just want to rest in the knowledge that I'm doing "enough" - enough for DaHubby, enough for my kids, enough for myself. And, to be able to recognize when I've had "enough" of being compared to someone else.

I want to rest and know that the priorities that I'm responsible for and that I set for us are ones that make a good home, glorify God, and fulfill everyone's needs. And, that those priorities are "enough" for us and the Vikings.

And, I want to be less worried about what everyone else thinks.

Anyone else?