14 Signs You're A Good Mom
After my children were in bed last night, I looked around the house and noticed all of the evidence they left behind from a day of curiosity and imagination. As a mother of a seven, five, and two-year-old, there is practically no time to clean and organize. In order to embrace this season of life, I want to stay engaged with my children, not burdened by household chores.
Yes, I like a tidy house. Yes, I am a lover of organization. Yes, I see every item out of place and feel every crumb under my feet. Yes, I wish I could spend a whole day deep cleaning my house (knowing it will be marred within minutes of completion). But you know what? I’ll spend most of my life in a neat house, one day, designed by Chip and Jo. A girl can dream, right?!
When my kids are grown, I can have pretty, white furniture and antique decor on the tables. I can have beautifully draped curtains, and tables with sharp corners. I can have a luxurious bathtub all to myself. And I’ll have plenty of time and energy to keep it looking like it belongs on HGTV.
However, I only get 18 years of fingerprints, and crayon marks, and dirty clothes, and milky counters, and smashed blueberries, and messy baths, and strange smells, and glue covered tables. Then, when peace settles on our home as our last child steps out the door, I know I will desperately yearn for that dirty house once more. I’d easily trade my dream Fixer Upper house for another 18 years with my children … maybe. For the signs of their life, of their exploration, of their growth, of their happiness … my happiness.
Until then, I want to be a mom that puts the dishes aside to do an art project and leaves the laundry in the basket to read my kids a book. I want to be a mom who forgets to clean the toilets because she was too busy laughing with her kids and one that orders a pizza because it’s more important to cuddle the baby who needs comforting. With that said, here’s a tour of our home: 14 signs you’re a (good) mom. And to my mom and mother-in-law, I promise it’s not usually this bad!
1. A sink overflowing with dirty dishes.
Courtesy of Ashley Ashcraft
2. A toilet paper roll that makes you wonder if it’s safe to wipe.
Courtesy of Ashley Ashcraft
3. The remnants of breakfast still present at lunchtime.
Courtesy of Ashley Ashcraft
4. Randomly filled bowls or baskets.
Courtesy of Ashley Ashcraft
5. Toys in your “me-space.”
Courtesy of Ashley Ashcraft
6. The discovery of random objects in random places.
Courtesy of Ashley Ashcraft
7. A kitchen counter that becomes a dumping grounds for the day’s activities.
Courtesy of Ashley Ashcraft
8. A stove that shows signs a meal was prepared, but no time to be wiped down.
Courtesy of Ashley Ashcraft
9. A refrigerator that looks like you simply shoved everything in it from the recent grocery trip because you had to tend to the hungry, crying children who were trying to maul one another.
Courtesy of Ashley Ashcraft
10. Your well-balanced lunch, because you’re too exhausted to make even a PB & J.
Courtesy of Ashley Ashcraft
11. Left out milk, hopefully still good enough to put back in the fridge?
Courtesy of Ashley Ashcraft
12. Laundry that stays in this state for approximately five days (while you pick from the clean basket here and there).
Courtesy of Ashley Ashcraft
13. A mess of a dining table.
Courtesy of Ashley Ashcraft
14. A prayer that your children will sleep long enough to let you recoup from yet another glorious, trying, tear your hair out, wish it would never end, fall to the floor crying, seemingly endless, blessed day of child rearing.
Courtesy of Ashley Ashcraft
This article was originally published on
