Every once in a while, I need to laugh at myself, because my motivation comes from the strangest places.
Last week, we had a babysitter for the first time in a long time.
Sidenote: I miss my regular weekly sitter SO MUCH. So very, very, much. Why do these girls need to grow up and get real jobs?
Anyway, we hadn't had a sitter in a while, because over the summer the bulk of our social calendar ends up being family friendly events, and now that the girls are older, they're much more a part of everything. And now that we needed one, all I could picture was the mess in the girls' bathroom that I hadn't bothered to clean, and the boxes in the living room waiting to be dropped off at consignment, and the homeschool materials that have totally exploded in the dining room. Plus, we'd just been plain BUSY since it was the end of the summer/start of the school year, and I was behind on my regular housekeeping. And suddenly, I was seeing our home through someone else's eyes.
So I cleaned. I cleaned HARD. I cleaned like I was preparing to have both sides of the family over for a full holiday stay. I tidied the LINEN closet, because what if the sitter needed an extra towel? I tidied the basement, because that's where we store extra snacks and drinks, and the sitter would inevitably need to go there. I tidied the hallway, because someone might ask her if our house is cluttered, and she'd tell them, and then they'd judge me. And since we OBVIOUSLY can't eat at a cluttered table, she'd know that our family dinners had become much more casual.
And, in case you are wondering, I did all this for a fifteen year old girl who is totally sweet and unpretentious and probably wouldn't care if a house has some clutter. I remember I had her help Madison clean her room, and all Madison could tell me was that the sitter said that her room was WAY worse.
But yet, I don't feel the same ambition to do all this for my family, who lives here and who I love.
It's like when I make sure my car is looking spotless and smelling great...for the eight and ten year olds that I carpool home from dance.
So clearly, I care deeply about trying to impress teens and tweens who get a quick view of our lives. So, if my family were smart, they'd let me know that I have an acquaintance stopping by. The whole home will be spotless in no time!