Don't Clean the Toilet at 2 in the Morning

I was going to write this post about trying to be the woman I want my daughter to be: a real, working mom who loves her family and still  keeps her sense of self.

Then I thought about how I spent last night. I stayed up until 3AM working while hubby locked himself in the bedroom with the toddler, who isn't sleeping through the night yet. In between cups of coffee, writing my posts and column, and subsequent bathroom breaks due to said coffee, I decided to clean the toilet.

It was 2AM when I decided that I couldn't stand how dirty it was. As I was scrubbing the toilet (in between writing posts), I realized how ridiculous it was. Why the hell was I cleaning the toilet when I should have been writing so I could go to bed before Jaxson woke me up in the wee hours?

I knew this was ridiculous yet there I was. I even wiped down the sink! Did I mention that I hate cleaning the toilet?

I think that was my wake up call. I've been reading Good Enough Is the New Perfect: Finding Happiness and Success in Modern Motherhood by Becky Gillespie and Hollee Temple.  The authors talk about how striving for perfectionism in every aspect of our lives isn't healthy for us as mothers. We're also creating unrealistic expectations for our families, especially our daughters when they become mothers.

As I'm writing this, my living room is covered in toys, DVD, books, and kids socks. There are dirty dishes in my sink, and dirty clothes on the bathroom floor. I fed the kids microwaved "baked" potatoes for dinner because I didn't want to cook.

You know, what? I'm totally fine with that. I've let go of my desire for a perfectly clean home so after the kids go to bed, I have time to work on projects that make me happy. Hubby does his part to keep our apartment as organized and clean as possible but we realize that it's an ongoing battle when we have 2 young kids.

That's good enough for me.

I promise not to clean the toilet at 2AM again. Unless I have company coming over.

This post was inspired by Left to Write's May book club selection. I received a copy of the book for review and all opinions are my own.