Doing What You Can When You Can

Things here at home have been a real challenge for me this past 1 1/2 weeks.

My in-laws (DearHubby's parents and brother) arrived last Friday evening. My mother-in-law came along on the trip to see the girls, but also to help me out during all of our house renovation work. Well, the next morning, I took my mother-in-law to the ER. After testing, they discovered she had a staph infection and had they not operated immediately, she could have died. So, praise God, she listened to her conscience and asked me to take her to the ER. She was discharged on Wednesday evening and she flew home this past Saturday. All that to say, I had a lot of weight put on my shoulders all at once and I had to learn how to carry the weight without any help. One day my sole responsibility is taking care of the 2 girls and the next day I need to incorporate cooking, keep up with the house chores, grocery shop for 7 people, and care for the needs of 3 more people. Well, let me just say that I've had a few break-downs in front of my husband just because the pressure has been so great...

Nonetheless, there are days where I get through the day with little frustration and the secret that I've discovered is to do what I can when I can. Perhaps this is not a new lesson to others, but it's a lesson that I need to learn. I am a very detail oriented person. When I work on a project, it has to be "perfect", all the t's crossed and i's dotted. That goes with housekeeping also. I like all my cracks and corners cleaned. With DearDaughter1, I learned to let go of a lot of cracks and corners and so today there are a lot of cracks and corners caked with dust. However, with those areas that I kept up on a regular basis, I kept those cracks and corners cleaned. Well, after this past week and a half, I am learning that "perfection" is not a requirement, especially in housekeeping. In order to keep up with all the demands of being a wife, mom, and homemaker, I need to make the best use of my time. If I require perfection in my housekeeping then I would be spending most of my time doing that and very little time with my 2 little girls or taking care of other's needs. Therefore, I need to do what I can when I can. In addition, I'm learning which things should be addressed as soon as possible and which things can wait. The "rule" I'm making for myself is this: If a cleaning project becomes more difficult the longer it sits, then it should be addressed as soon as possible, but if a cleaning project is the same today as it will be in a few months, then it can wait. Keeping that rule in mind helps me prioritize what to attack first and lets me do what I can when I can.