Small Victories

I have a clean floor. It isn't my whole house, or even one room. Not even one floor. But I do have a five by five foot patch of pristine carpet in my living room. And I'm claiming it as a victory.

The week's been rough - I've been sick, my husband has been away even more than usual, and the girls are, well, just the same as always. Every inch of the house looks like I've given up on ever cleaning, except this spot.

Sure, getting it clean means I neglected the huge stack of laundry, and every person in this house will probably tell me they have no clean undies in the morning. And it means I let my seven and five year old play unattended in the front yard with a water hose in fifty degree weather for the last hour and a half (pneumonia is treatable these days, you know). But my patch of carpet is clean.

Being a mom is chaotic under the best of conditions. When you are a mom living with less-than-ideal conditions, well, sometimes it feels like you're sinking under a mountain of things you should be doing better.

But not today. Not for me. I'm giving myself a break and honoring my need for sanity; finding something that makes me feel happy and accomplished. Today, the biggest thing I could do was clean that square of carpet, and that's okay.

Everything else will still be there waiting for me tomorrow.