Hannah is almost two, and I have noticed a huge shift in how our days work. All kids are born with a sin nature and a good heart. What I do with my days and how I interact with my kids will bring out one or the other.

There are some days that I want to get extra house work done, so I try to get Hannah and Zeke to play together nicely or alone in different parts of the home. The plan works for maybe fifteen minutes before I’m interrupted for one need or another and I quickly get frustrated that my plan for the day is already falling apart. I tend to the need and go back to work only to be interrupted again. This continues until afternoon nap time when I would like to get the most work done, but I am so exhausted because of my own frustrations that I just want to sit and veg out on the computer. Before I know it, the kids are awake and I again try to pacify them and continue working around the house. The kids get more restless with no play time with mom and by the time Tim comes home we are all falling apart.

I noticed on these days that I end up having to work a lot more with discipline with Hannah and usually listen to a fussy little Zeke. The kids demand my attention because they love spending time with mom and need and deserve some one-on-one time. I have also noticed on these frustrating-plan-not-working days that the more frustrated I get, the less patience I have, and the more potty training accidents Hannah has. The day I noticed that, things had to change.

I had to teach myself to be disciplined in how I run the house. When I have a dirty dish I take care of it in the moment instead of letting a mountain pile up. If a load of laundry is dry, it gets folded and put away in the midst of at least one kid rolling around in the fun clean pile. During the day while Tim is working, the kids come first, the house second. It is very important for me and the kids to spend time together building our relationship. It’s amazing how little discipline is needed when we are building a positive relationship between us.

I am stil learning how to organize the house and have less large chores to do as I train myself to clean as I go. I want to make a conscience effort to spend time with our children playing for the majority of the day. The more cleaning I can do in the moment or when both kids are asleep or playing nicely, the better our day goes when I can spend more time being a mom and not a maid.

QUESTION: How do you keep a level head between the demands of a family and a dirty house so it’s welcoming when your spouse comes home from a full day of ministry?