What My Perpetually Sticky Floors Are Teaching Me
Majority of our house is hardwood floors or tile, which mostly I love.
I love how they look and how easy they are to clean. I don’t have to worry about stains or smashed in food and gunk that get stuck in carpet.
The few times where we have had some projectile vomit (yes it’s gross either way), I haven’ had to scrub for hours to get it out of carpet. With hardwood floors it is super easy to clean any mess and not have a visual reminder for months to come.
Also due to my husband’s allergies, we knew we wanted a house with hardwood floors when we were house hunting. We did have to pull several rooms of carpet up in our house only to discover the beautiful original hardwood floors underneath.
At some point we are going to have to refinish some of the floors, but since we have a dog and two little ones, that is a project that is way down the road. 🙂
So now that I have shared my sincere love for my floors let me tell you about the flip side.
With hardwood floors there is no hiding the dirt. You see it and you feel it every time you walk barefoot across the room.
It seems like I am constantly sweeping the floor!
Plus remember that we have a dog? Well to say that he sheds would be an understatement.
He SHEDS all of his hair Every.Single.Day.
Seriously I don’t know how he has any hair left! I see the hair billows that gather up along the wall and in the corners. In the morning when the sun shines through, you can see the fine layer of dog hair that is on the floor. Imagine all that dirt that is seeping through carpets! Yuck!
And then there is the business of the perpetual sticky kitchen floor.
It never fails, I sweep and mop but the floors constantly seem sticky. Does anyone else have this problem?
And then there are the cheerios and random water drops from the dog and the kid’s sippy cups. The list goes on and on!
I could easily spend several hours a day sweeping and keeping my floors clean, but I don’t and I’m sloooowly learning to be OK with that. Meaning that I’m in a season with two little ones and a dog, so no matter how much I try and keep up on it, my floors are always going to be somewhat dirty.
Currently I sweep the kitchen floor every night, vacuum twice a week, mop once a week, and use the Swiffer about every other day. I’m doing plenty to clean my floors, but the reality is that as long as people live in this house then there is going to be dirt, wet foot prints, and sticky messes.
Notice I said live?
Well we are living life together everyday here at home. There is a lot of laughter, tears, tickles, cuddling, learning, walking, cooking, eating, and playing going on here. There are also a lot of messes that are made on a daily hourly basis.
So what are my perpetually sticky floors teaching me? That life is happening here and I don’t want to miss any of it by constantly worrying about how dirty my floors are.
I would be a mad women if I constantly had a mop out to wipe up all the water droppings that fall from the dog’s mouth after he drinks water (although could someone seriously teach him to stand over his water bowl until he is done please? :)), and swept up every piece of food as they fall to the floor instead of just waiting until the meal is over.
I’m learning balance, that it is OK if my floors have random water stains for the time being because they will be mopped up on my mopping day. Even though my personalty leans to the extreme, of wanting everything picked up and orderly, the reality is that it just not feasible right now.
I follow my daily routines and have a daily cleaning system. Everything will be cleaned at least once a week, and obviously if there is an extreme circumstance then I will pull out the mop and deep clean the floors. But I’m teaching myself that some messes can wait, and sometimes there are just more important things to tend to.
Yes I want to have a clean house and teach my kids the importance of cleaning up after themselves, but I also need to learn to just relax a little. Some messes can wait, others can’t. I also need to remind myself that when someone stops by, I’m pretty sure they are not focused on the dog hair that is collecting in the corner. They are here to visit with me and to play with the kids.
It’s easy for me to be hard on myself because I am here at home majority of the day, so I’m a little more in-tuned to the dusty floors. But I were writing a letter o myself, it would read:
Dear Weary Mom,
You ARE doing YOUR best. You do clean your floors on a reasonable basis. Yes the dog shedding is annoying, and the random stepped on Cheerios gets really old, but just remember that there is a happy family living in your home. While it may be tempting to spend several hours a day sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, and dusting, do you really want to leave a legacy of compulsory cleaning? Wouldn’t your kids thrive better if they saw you (and hopefully modeled through your example and teaching) follow a daily cleaning routine that leaves plenty of time for play, laughter, and cuddles? Let up a little on yourself, and give the dog a little grace too. 🙂
Sincerely,
Your Much Wiser Self
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You are so lucky to have your sticky floors and the life that creates them! Love your blog!
Thanks for stopping by, and thanks for reminder too! 🙂
This is great encouragement. As mums I think we all need to strike the right balance of clean homes but homes where we can live, have fun and share together and allow life to happen without stressing.
Thanks so much for sharing at Essential Fridays.
Blessings
Mel from Essential Thing Devotions
I agree, but sometimes that is so hard to do, at least with my personality anyways! 🙂
I’m learning this lesson, too. Well – the balance between not cleaning enough [when I’m feeling lazy], and spending all of my time cleaning. This is so beautifully written. Thank you for the blessing!
I’m your neighbor over at the Better Mom link-up 🙂
~Lisha 🙂
Yes I can definitely relate, I’m either super motivated or super lazy 🙂
I feel like you wrote this right out of my thoughts – I feel the same way and it’s taken me years to realize it (and it still bugs me at times) but I don’t clean the floors as often as I used to either and it’s better that way!
Glad to know I’m not the only one! Thanks for stopping by 🙂
Haha…yes. I have carpets…and it really frightens me to think of the layers of filth hidden in them. But the same logic applies! Great analogy. Found you through Momma Notes linkup
I have wood floors too – I chose them over putting carpeting in when we built our house. I do understand about the sticky floors and children and pets and housecleaning and schedules and routines.
Thank you for the reminder to step back and keep my perspective, to take time for what must be done but focusing on the better things as well.
Great perspective. Thanks so much for the reminder to focus on the important things.
I would love to have bare surface floors… we have some pretty old and not pretty carpet… ugh… but again, the stains and the mess are because we have six awesome kids still at home… and with big teenaged boys come big teenaged feet. And living in rural Idaho (our choice and we love it) means those big teenaged feet often come in covered with mud…
Thanks for the reminder to keep my attitude positive!
You may have a sticky floor but you have an awesome family. Others don’t have sticky floor but they don’t have a family that LIVE with it (notice that?). Kalia Floors
Omg! You would hate my house. My floor gets swept and mopped once every six to eight months. I have a special needs kiddo, have to constantly cook and do laundry, we have food all over the walls, lol! I am trying to get a business up and running, so wheN the kids are school, that is when that happens. How do you do it? I would love to have a clean house.