The disorganised and messy mother

When I made the choice to be a stay at home mother for the first year of my child’s life as a minimum, I had held a belief that without the pressure of having to work I would be able to maintain a clean and perfect home…..boy was I wrong.

Keep in mind, I had this thought when I was still pregnant. My own mother always worked to some degree, so I believed that work was the reason it was difficult to maintain a house. It never occurred to me that it was raising three children that caused the difficulty in maintaining a clean home for my mother.

Having only one child at this point, I find myself in disbelief about how difficult even with one child it is to keep on top of all the housework and errands. It was easier when I worked full-time.

Now that I have a child, and understand what a challenge any amount of children pose, I now realise that my previous belief about how ‘easy’ the role of a housewife is was totally wrong. I don’t blame myself for having such naive beliefs, many people seem to harbour this strange belief that being at home is easier than work. This is possibly due to the way society values workers above homemakers; as if making money is more important than making a happy home.

Motherhood has been my most challenging job yet, and to add another ‘new’ role into the mix at the same time of housewife, I feel I was ill prepared for the job. If I had to apply for this job I never would have even made an interview due to the lack of experience.

Nine months in I feel as if I am only just finally starting to get the hang of it all, learning new ways to manage the huge workload every day. I look to my more experienced peers and feel hopeful; all those women out there that seem to manage it with ease and have multiple children. Perhaps one day I can be the envy of new mothers, but for now I continue to operate disorganised and messy.

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