By Dawn (in
NS)
To: UnschoolingDiscussion@yahoogroups.com
Ok, I think
I'll share my newly thought of philosophy of housework here. It started when my
sister was over and chasing the kids around. I was straightening up the livingroom and had just finished piling up blocks (Big
cardboard ones. We have, in all, 10 or eleven different kinds of wood, plastic
and cardboard blocks. I feel so wealthy. :) ) when my
son (2) ran into the room, saw the blocks and immediately tore down the pile. I
smiled and shook my head. My sister, who'd arrived in
time to see this, sternly said, "Harry! Your mother just finished putting
those away!" When
she said that I felt offended. Didn't she know I only pile those blocks
so that Harry can knock them down? And there was the Aha! I looked around the
room at the clean living room and realized that was why I did any cleaning.
We don't clean up messes to have a clean house. We clean up messes so there is
room for more mess!
Now I think of cleaning up after my kids as replacing a canvas. I do it with
the thought that by giving them room again and a bare floor and organized toys
to pick from I'm handing them the tools to write another mess onto our house.
It's meant that at the end of a day, or sometimes a few days in a row, I just
let the mess stay, because really, it's a work of art or a story. Maybe it
isn't finished. Maybe it's too interesting to be gotten rid of so soon. It also
clears up my feelings of resentment about doing the bulk of it. I like being
the one to reset the house so that we all can live another, different mess the
next day.
Anyway, thought I'd share since it's really helped me bring more joy into the
housework!