Cleaning House

I've realized today that "at least I have a clean house".

Let me back up. The household wars have been coming to a head over here as I have been feeling the urge (need, necessity) to purge. This house gets smaller everyday and, though I do acknowledge not worrying about the size of my house is on my list of "things that won't matter ten years from now", let's face it: there's a lot of us here.
So I'm taking advantage of an upcoming Mom's Sale at church to clear out a corner in Matt's makeshift laundry room/storage room/gym for him to lunge to his heart's content. I'm feeling good about sifting and sorting. Now, mind you, I'm not about to go crazy and actually get rid of my children's actual clothes that make my memories of their iddy biddy days complete. No, no my friends. Those fifteen totes are tucked away ever so neatly for my more nostalgic days.
Now I'm simply giving myself permission to part with the clothes that have cycled through time and again and yet, somehow, have never gotten worn.
So ... as I'm doing that I've also decided to tackle the kids' rooms. If the clothes are being weeded through, so can the toys that have started taking up residence. Now, to go along with the theme of the Kitchen Sink Lady, what better way to attempt to keep a clean room clean than to REALLY clean it?? So, I shampoo the kids' carpets. Out with the old milk stains in the carpet, in with the ... well, the slightly faded old milk stains in the carpet. But it's doing its trick. The kids' rooms have remained clean for over 72 hours now and I'm feeling good.
As of today, four days after my start, I have two (and a half) clean bedrooms (ours is in progress...) and an extra corner in the basement. .....

And six people's dirty laundry that has been neglected and is overflowing every hamper in this home.

How does this always seem to happen? I know there are moms out there that don't mark it as a record breaking week on their calendar when bedrooms remain clean for more than 4 hours at a time and who can manage to keep their house tidy, clothes in appropriate drawers, sharpie markers out of the hands of two year olds and keep their hampers within a lid closing limit ... but I sure can't. At least not at the same time.

So today, as I grasp at straws at just what I am accomplishing through all of this work I realize, at least I have a clean house. I definitely don't have a tidy house. Like, ever. But the joy of living in this shoe box is that it doesn't take long to scrub. So, next time you're over (specifically if it's in the next week), kick that shoe into the corner, brush that book off of the couch and relax knowing that your child can eat that fruit snack he found on the girls' bedroom floor because at least the rugs have been shampooed.