I’m not going to lie, I’m a terribly unorganized person. I love looking at Pinterest boards filled with color-coded pantries, and bookshelves alphabetized and dusted. But I know it’s not something that is going to happen at my own home, ever, and I’m okay with that. Everything in my home has its place, and that place just might be a pile of paper at the end of my kitchen counter next to the potatoes, and our kids charging station for their tablets.
It’s not pretty, but it works.
For a lot of moms being organized comes naturally to them. The hustle of multiple kids, work, household chores, and emotional stability drives them to make awesome chore charts and to-do lists that actually get checked off. Their house is on a nice dusting timeline, so their fan blades never look furry. And that is AMAZING. Good for you guys.
There are also the other moms who aren’t naturally organized but get in line and start routines so they can get their kids to school on time without trying to remember if they brushed their teeth and packed a snack before they leave the house. And dinner planned a week in advance so they can buy the groceries they need and only have to go to the store once a week. And that is also, AMAZING.
Then, there are the moms like me, who as hard as we try, cannot for the life of us jump on the organized bandwagon. I’ve made charts only to forget about them two days later. I’ve meal planned only to realize I forgot half the stuff on my grocery list. I get the kids in the car and then run back in for a hairbrush because there’s a huge knot in the back of my daughter’s head. It’s not that I don’t care about my fan blades or if my pantry is alphabetized, but it’s just not high on my priority list right now.
There’s a ton of articles out there on finding “hope” for disorganized moms, but let me tell you, I’m fine.
Actually, most of us who are considered “hot mess moms” are completely fine. We like having top knots and comfy hoodies and showing up late to a PTA meeting with a Starbucks cup in hand and “Oh shoot did I just miss the parent sign up for that bake sale? Dang, maybe next time.”
And even if I do look disorganized to you, understand, that I will always be there to listen to you complain if your kids are driving you crazy. And I will always bring you an extra coffee to the PTA meeting if you text me before I get there. So, if you need a mom friend like that, hit up the nearest mom with big sunglasses and a huge cup of caffeine in hand at the next school pick-up line. She might be hiding in her car until the last second though so she doesn’t have to socialize too much.
But here’s the thing…with how completely unorganized that I am, I still feel just as present and full of love for my kids as the super coordinated parents who have their act together a little more conventionally than I do.
At the end of the day, being a parent is hard, no matter how clean your house is, and the fact that we all have our own way to love and take care of our children’s needs is pretty amazing. So, good job to all the parents out there doing their best, whatever that looks like.
