I might have been one of the worst homemakers in the world when I first got married and even more so when I first started staying home full-time.
As a big picture thinker, details often escape my eye and mind, so I would totally miss something that needed to be clean OR notice it and then totally forget about it five minutes later.
Hopefully The Hubby will agree that I’ve improved my homemaking skills over the years, but I’m still no Martha Stewart. The Hubby is still by far the more organized one by nature.
I’m working on it. I have a weekly schedule of chores to keep the house clean, but I still battle with clutter. The boys also have chores to do, but sometimes field trips and vacations and beautiful weather call us on an adventure and those chores get forgotten.
It is important to me to keep a clean house for the sake of the health + sanity + enjoyment of our whole family, but I gave up on keeping a perfect house long ago. I’m not a great decorator. I have three young boys and we homeschool. Legos and Nerf guns are regular fixtures on the dining room table and living room floor. Our home is lived in, not on display.
I love The Nester’s saying… “It doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful.” Our homes can be beautiful whether every window is spotless or not. Our homes can be beautiful without designer pillows or large works of art on the wall.
I’m not sure the perfect, lived in house actually exists, but if it does, I stopped trying to live up to those standards long ago. Instead of perfect, I’m just trying to aim for clean and functional for our family. Even just the clean part can be a struggle some weeks, but without the word “perfect” attached to my expectations, I know that what I do get done is not in vain, but for the good of my family.
Whether we stay at home or not, we all have homes to take care of. Are you a natural-born homemaker, a do-what-I-can homemaker, or somewhere in between? How do you keep your home neat without obsessing over perfect or neglecting your family? I’d love to hear from all cleaning personalities on this one!
Since we’re talking about cleaning today, I wanted to offer you a free printable to help you keep the right perspective on those cleaning days! Just subscribe to Home with the Boys and my new “Prayers for Cleaning Day” printable PDF will be linked to at the bottom of the next post you receive! If you are already a subscriber, you should find it at the bottom of this post in your email or feed!
I'm Erin, a wife, boy mom x 3, writer, and runner in Nebraska! I'm excited to share all my favorites relating to faith, family, fashion, and fitness in this space! Enjoy! 
I love that you faithfully pursue your calling, even the hard parts. Sometimes I have given up. But hearing your story encourages me to carry on.
Love this! I hate, detest, despite cleaning. However…I’m also a perfectionist by nature and DO see all the tiny details that aren’t clean enough, neat enough, good enough. So this is a constant battle for me. Some days I get it right – cleaning enough to stay sane but not freaking out if it’s not perfect. Some days I don’t.
I’m a preachers wife, homeschool mom of 2 teenage girls myself. We stay very busy with sports,church and family and at times all we can get done is to take out the trash.. My family is very easy going and does help a lot, thank goodness. I’m learning that it is more important to be spending time with them instead of having a spotless house. Will they remember the condition of the house when they are grown and gone? We try do do the basics stuff and then when we can we take a day to do extra. Don’t sweat the small stuff. Enjoy family.