Tag: chores

About Me

Finding Balance: Work, Home, and Parenting

Autumn

Some things are a lot easier to see through the contrast. I didn’t really enjoy being a stay-at-home mom, doing the same chores over and over, day after day after day. For years I told myself that the chores would still be there even if I got a job, so it was better to tackle them and stay with my kids.

Then the chores really did magically up and vanish.

In full disclosure, my entire environment is completely different now. I’m still certain that if I were in the same place while trying to work a job, the chores would have magically doubled instead.

I’m not interested in debating stay-at-home vs working with parenting, as life is complex and most of us are trying to survive the best we can. We’re all doing what we think is right, and we don’t always have a choice in the matter.

What I had wish I had known is that it isn’t as black and white as staying-at-home is easier than working.

The endless repetition of chores is difficult. They don’t give a sense of fulfillment, and to make it worse there are plenty of people online claiming that they can keep their house immaculate with just fifteen minutes a day. Even if the physical action isn’t difficult, emotionally it wears down your soul.

And you know what? I’m just going to say it: if you spend hours cleaning every day and the house is never clean, then maybe you’re trapped in a toxic environment. Because sometimes the mess is deliberate, not incidental.

What I’ve realized is that my kids don’t generate anywhere near as much mess as I thought they did. I didn’t have to spend all those years trying to stay on top of an insurmountable mountain.

Finally, I’m still every bit the homebody that I always was before. Thankfully there’s such a thing as laptops and internet connection.

poetry

The Ballad of the Sludge Slayer

Autumn

In the kitchen once calm, but now full of dread,
The sink stood still, the water dead.
No swirl, no gurgle, just murky despair–
A clog had settled deep down there.

Boiling water surged with might,
Baking soda fizzed in a noble fight.
The plunger danced, the bubbles rose,
But still the foul drain dared oppose.

With rubber gloves and battle cry,
Our hero braved the pipe’s dark eye.
Unscrewed the trap with fearless hands,
And found… it clean–yet still it stands!

Then came the tool, long coiled and mean,
The mighty snake–a plumbing queen.
It dove into the depths with grit,
And struck the sludge where it did sit!

Twist and turn, slurp, a thunk–
The serpent pulled back slime and gunk.
The drain gave way, the water flew–
A flood of triumph breaking through!

So raise a pouch of Capri Sun high,
And toast beneath the clean-piped sky.
For legends aren’t just born–they’re made,
Where clogs once lurked and courage stayed.

I unclogged a stubborn blockage in the kitchen sink, while consulting ChatGPT about how to go about it. Then, because I was feeling pretty proud of the achievement afterwards, I asked ChatGPT to write a poem for me about our venture.