My mom once said she wished she had spent less time cleaning when my brother, sister and I were growing up and more time hanging out with us. Actually, I don’t know that she said hanging out, but that’s the general idea. I turned her wish around a bit and told my friends who were embarrassed by their lack of meticulous housekeeping that a messy home is the sign of a good mom.
Often their response would be, “tell my husband that.” Oh well. Tell him to pitch in.
But really, I get what my mom was saying. Our home was always clean–save the kids’ rooms–but should that be what we remember most about growing up? I can’t say it’s my strongest memory, but I definitely would have benefited with a little more attention from my mom. And my dad, for that matter.
Still, every parent has regrets and every child–even an adult child–has his or her complaints. I’m leaving the rest alone. I am where I am, I love my parents and I’m too old to dwell on what should have been.
I can’t say I inherited my mom’s penchant for cleanliness. My home is sanitary and presentable, except for the storage room, which I’m still working on. It’s sanitary but hardly presentable. But my apartment is not as clean as my mom kept things. It could do with a little dusting right now. I don’t remember ever seeing dusty book shelves when I was growing up.
I have no excuse. I only have cats. So I guess I’m going to start working on this storage room again. And to those of you with kids–relax and enjoy your children. The rest will get done.
Image Credit: © New Africa–stock.adobe.com
Lose 10 pounds. I put this weight on about 3 or 4 years ago, and I’ve been vowing to lose it ever since. It hasn’t happened. But now I’m motivated. Will this motivation last? Probably not. But I’m going to lose the weight anyway.
Vacuum every Sunday. You laugh, but I have the hardest time doing this. It’s not that I don’t like vacuuming–I don’t mind it at all–it’s that it scares my cats so much, and I feel terrible about that. But it has to be done.![AdobeStock_74229029 [Converted] c RetroClipArt](https://myworldwithwords.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/adobestock_74229029-converted-c-retroclipart.png)
Write more. I have a novel I’ve been working on, and I have great resources for making it a decent read. In the last year I’ve had some back problems that make it difficult to sit for any length of time, but those are pretty much resolved. I have a writer’s group that includes several published authors, and I have the means to take that writing class I’ve always wanted to take. So time to dive in.
My World With Words 
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