Yesterday I made a playhouse for my daughters using an old box which was used to hold the television set we got last Christmas. I simply cut a rectangle shape in the middle for the door, two small boxes on both sides for windows, punched holes on each end of the cover and tied it together for the roof, and presto instant and costless playhouse. To get the feel of a playhouse I added small curtains for the windows and placed a small comforter inside the box for its floor. I was so happy with my latest masterpiece that I took a photo of the makeshift playhouse, but my happiness was nothing compared to my daughters. They were so delighted that they both went inside this small box to play. Imagine my amazement when I saw my six year old together with my one year old both inside the box, I never thought they would both fit inside it. They were such a delight to behold, but what wasn't so delightful to behold was the disarray that came after playtime. I didn't feel like picking up after them so I just left it alone and went upstairs and looked for something to read. Then I saw the book that my husband gave when I was just pregnant with my eldest daughter, Gabby. It kind of called out to me so I picked up, scanned the pages for a story to read and then I saw the lesson that was highlighted and boxed in page one hundred seventy-four. It said "The darn trouble with cleaning the house is it gets dirty the next day anyway, so skip a week if you have to. The children are the most important thing." I read this passage and nodded somewhat in agreement. Yes children are important, but it is equally important to teach them the proper things to do and cleanliness in a home is one of those. At the end of my reading and the epiphany that came with it, I stood up and went downstairs and watched my children enjoy themselves, but we made an agreement that they would have to clean up after their mess if they ever wanted to play inside our makeshift playhouse again. Not only did this reduce my cleaning time, but also taught my kids organization and cleanliness.
This book has been a big help to me when I was raising Gabby. I should probably look it up more for reference and inspiration with raising Yvaine this time. Contrary to other books, it doesn't have a concrete how to guide in raising a child. It doesn't tell you that this method is much better than that. What it does is that it inspires you with real life stories of mothers, the situations they had with their kids and how they tried to deal with it. It is an inspirational guide to motherhood and it certainly worked for me. I hope it does for you too.
