In pursuit of a simple, fabulous, imperfect life at home.
My Real Housewife Confessions
November 14, 2011
- 69 comments
I often get emails from readers who want to know how I do it all. How do I have time for crafty projects and blogging while keeping house and raising my five amazing children? And the answer I keep coming back to is this: I don't do it all. I try to keep things simple. I do what there is time for in the day, and a tiny smidgen more because I like coffee better than sleep. I embrace imperfect homemaking.
My friend Beth just finished a 31 day series called 31 Days of Real Housewife Confessions. It was challenging and encouraging and a whole lot of fun to read! I hear that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so I've decided to share a few real housewife confessions of my own:
1. I once accidentally put a dozen eggs in the freezer while putting away groceries. I haven't lived it down.
2. I like to stay in my pajamas until noon. I consider it a perk of the job.
3. I drink much more coffee than could possibly be good for me.
4. My kitchen chairs are sticky. We had pancakes for breakfast 2 days ago and I haven't wiped them down yet.
5. Sometimes when we have guests over who I know read my blog I get really nervous. I have to remind myself that my blog is called imperfect homemaking and nobody expects a mom of five to have a spotless house!
6. I don't believe in yelling at my kids, but that doesn't mean I never do it. I've grown a lot in patience and gentleness since becoming a mommy five years ago, but I still sometimes find myself yelling. I hate it.
7. Sometimes my husband comes home to find I've accomplished some great crafty project, but haven't made dinner. Or even thought about dinner. On those days we normally just have bacon and eggs for dinner.
8. I only bathe my kids when they need it. We don't do bath time every single night, it just never became part of our routine.
9. We are five minutes late for church every single week. You would think we'd just start leaving five minutes earlier, but that has yet to actually happen.
10. Yesterday I treated myself to a Christmas magazine, only to discover that it is the same one I treated myself to a few weeks ago!! Duh.
A Random Giveaway!!!
Because of number 10 in the list above, I've decided to give the extra magazine away to one of my lovely readers. Just leave your OWN real housewife confession in the comments below and in a few days I'll pick a winner at random and send out my extra copy of Style at Home: Favourite Holiday Ideas!
p.s. Many of you have your comment setting set so that I see the words noreply-comment@blogger in place of your email and am unable to respond to your comments. Please read this post by Shelley at House of Smith's and make sure your email settings are such that I can contact you if you win!!! Thanks :)
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Um, I think you are my housekeeping soulmate :) My daughter just dropped down to one nap a day, which means I don't shower till after noon - so why not stay in my jammies?
ReplyDeleteAnd? When I was loading the groceries into my trunk this week I found a dozen eggs...from LAST week :) When I was pregnant I once found a dozen eggs in my spice cabinet!
Oh my goodness! I really could make a HUGE list of this! *L*
ReplyDeleteMy son's room looks like a tornado has went through it a few times.
Thanks for the hope that we are not the only imperfect ones out there! I must confess that sometimes my room is as messy as my kids'. I guess some things are hard to outgrow!
ReplyDeleteI'm not a real housewife...but I am a "real" working mom, that counts right?
ReplyDeleteI have a list a mile long but one of the MOST memorable was my daughter had NO and I mean not a single pair, of clean pants for school. I hate laundry and it was clear on this morning. I actually pulled out a pair of jeans from the "donate-too small" box, helped her wiggle in them, put on a long T so no one could see they weren't buttoned, and tried to convince her (and myself) that's it's cool! Skinny jeans are in..... sigh,lol.
Thank you so much for your post! It made me feel so much better about the little things that I lack.
ReplyDeleteMy admission is that sometimes my sweet son has to remind me that they didn't brush their teeth before bed, and since they are already in bed, I tell them we will do it extra good in the morning because I just want to go to bed!
Nicole
bushelsandbushels@wowway.com
So glad to find out I'm not the only one who doesn't do bath time for the kids every night! I never let him go more than one night without a bath, but some days it just doesn't seem necessary. I did a similar post last week - check me out @ http://impossiblecleanliness.blogspot.com/2011/11/just-so-were-clear.html
ReplyDeleteSorry if this is a duplicate, thought I responded! I am a working mom of 3- I am NOT a good housekeeper...at all. One morning after we were already running late, my daughter who was 7 at the time, had NO clean pants. Not a single pair, anywhere in the house! I dug out a pair of jeans from the "donation-too small" box, helped her wiggle them on, threw on an oversize T so no one could see they wouldn't button, and tried to convince her (and myself) that this was a GREAT look! Skinny jeans are in......sigh. The look on her face,lol!
ReplyDeleteI am known to wait until someone has one pair of clean underwear (or if that someone realizes they don't have ANY clean underwear) to do the laundry.
ReplyDeleteI also stay in my pajamas until noon :)
P.S. I didn't see a place to put my e-mail, so I'll just put it here :) fhlagape at aol dot com
So good to read!
ReplyDeleteConfession:
Saturday night my boys had an awful nights sleep and didn't fall asleep till well after midnight. Then, on Sunday morning they woke SUPER early. They wanted cookies for breakfast - and I confess I said "Yes" because I was so tired I could not deal w/any fits that early in the morning!
Oh, and our church changed it's time 2 months ago and we've shown up at 11:30 for two months before we realize it actually starts at 11:15. We'll remember one of these days!
Pajamas until noon? There have been a few Saturdays when I realized it was after 4 p.m. and I was still in my jammies. Whoops! And why change clothes at that point? When I realize that I make a cup of mocha and sit down and consider it a day of "staycation" ;0)
ReplyDeletemy confession: I never wanted to be one of those parents who puts their kid in front of a tv, but I've ended up doing it at least once a week, just enough to drink a cup of coffee
ReplyDeleteps- LOVE christmas mags!
Almost every room in my house looks like a tornado hit (or just 4 little girls who love to play). Last week I opened the dishwasher and found a can of formula. I know I had made a bottle that morning so I am guessing that's when the can was "put away".
ReplyDeleteSometimes, my dishes "soak" a good long time before I get around to actually washing them!
ReplyDeleteHmmm. Nothing in my master bedroom matches at all. It is, and always been, the catch all of every home we live in. My fridge also goes longer than it should between cleanings. Which ends up being gross.
ReplyDeleteGreat to know that there are people who realize it is okay to NOT do it ALL.
ReplyDeleteOne weekend this past summer we went to visit the In-Laws and we brought a fruit platter, all of the different fruits in separate bags, to be assembled when we arrived. The fruit platter was a huge success and we had a nice time.
*fast forward three weeks*
We go to the back of the car and notice the cooler is still back there. We open it up. Remember, this is summer. It was awful. The husband was the lucky person who got to clean out the leftover fruit, that at this time smelt enough to make a dumpster diver sick.
We now check the trunk after picnics, camping, or anytime there is the potential of a cooler.
My "confession" just woke up... IN HIS SUNDAY PANTS!!! Yep, sometimes I let my son where his clothes to bed. Something I would NEVER have done with my 2 older children. I'm a bit appalled with myself right now and could use some time alone reading a Christmas Magazine wherein I will vow to never allow clothes to bed again (or at least for the next couple of days) :-)
ReplyDeleteAs I sit here in my pajamas (it's 10:30!) I can completely agree with your confessions! My confession is that when I'm done washing and drying my laundry, it usually just goes on the floor and sometimes doesn't get folded for weeks unless I have time. I don't usually have time.
ReplyDeleteI have hard wood floors throughout my house. I sweep them regularly but right now I can't remember the last time I mopped them..maybe a month ago. Guess that should go on my "to do" for this week.
ReplyDeletemy confession. after running errands with my 8 yr old stepson, reminding him not to swing the reuseable bags into the nice lady or the worker etc. we get home and as i'm loading myself down with bags ask him to carry the milk. swinging ensues and i again remind him not to swing the milk. then as i unlock the door and step up to the kitchen i hear sorry sorry followed by the sound of a gallon jug toppling down the stairs to the basement. we cleaned up together and he had to sacrifice .50 of allowance because "yes we were swinging the milk" now here's where it gets interesting. take stepson home to mom and stop to get more milk, grab some starbucks and meet my husband at work. we get home. it's late, despite coffee we're both tired. next morning husband runs to store and brings me the milk....which i left in the car over night. the outside time being in the 50's that would be 2 gallons down. i now owe my husband .50 .....roughly $9.00 over 3 gallons. only 1 of which was consumed....and in about a day.
ReplyDeleteThis is GREAT!!!!
ReplyDeleteOne time we were having company over and I was cleaning all day. But,I still had dirty dishes ALL over the place. I took a giant black garbage bag and put every single dirty dish, cup, spoon into it and then set the whole bag on my attic steps. They stayed there for a week or more... :)
tensley5@yahoo.com
Awesome post. I'm right there with you.
ReplyDeleteMy confession: There are days when the kids and I don't change our clothes at all. We just stay in our pajamas all the way through dinner and straight into bed.
Love this! Particularly #s 7 and 8. I'm SO there!
ReplyDeleteSome nights I can only find one of my kids toothbrushes so I just get them to share. And I have been thinking for a long time (since we moved in to our house) that the seal under the back door was black. Gave it a good clean a few days back (thought we have lived here a while...) to discover it is supposed to be white...
ReplyDeleteThat was really a gross cleaning session!
Thanks for your confessions :) glad you're not perfect!
haha! Amen to #7!
ReplyDeleteOh gosh, too many to choose from. Currently, there are 4 giant plastic bins in the middle of our dining room (between the kitchen/front door and stairs to bedrooms) overflowing with stuff to "get rid of" that we have had to maneuver around for over 2 weeks...still working on the "get rid of" part. Oh, and it's been an eggos/cereal for dinner kind of week- but my craft-to-do-list is shorter! coincidence?
ummm....my kids have fallen asleep in their clothes and after assessing the damage from the previous day, I send them off to shcool or church....the perks are:
ReplyDeleteLess laundry
Less time to get ready
No battle on what to wear
and....(drum roll)we get to church early ;)
My confession is that I need a lot of help! I feel that we are in survival mode - at least we have clothes on and baby wipes are sometimes the only bath we get for a little while (YIKES!) Also, I try my best to keep up on my house, but I feel that if we have company they are coming to see us, not my clean/un-clean house. If you are visiting, you love me for me. Right?
ReplyDeleteI had to laugh reading your confessions. I am much the same. My confession...I hate doing laundry, but I really hate matching socks, so I don't. If you need a pair of socks you go look in the "sock basket" and find your own pair!
ReplyDeleteOMG I am so glad you made this post! My confession, the latest in dissasters: Cleaned out my fridge this weekend only to discover I still had leftovers from 4th of July!! Science project to say the least ;-) Glad we are all imperfect!! alookabill@carolina.rr.com
ReplyDeleteGreat read! I can really relate to your list! Yesterday the kids and I stayed in our pjs all day long!
ReplyDeleteI often don't empty the dishwasher all at once, I simply use what I need until it is emptied that way. Drives my husband crazy.
ReplyDeletesonya at hampsonya@aol.com
in the pjs all day sometimes. we are always late for church, too- hubby hates it. i yell too much. some days i just let them watch pbs kids so i can get stuff done.
ReplyDeletewould love to win that magazine! i never buy any for myself.
I just discovered your blog over the weekend via pinterest and spent all my baby-nursing time yesterday reading almost all of it! I also have 5 kids...and need to do some major simplifying!! Imperfect housewife moment #243 today...I am doing lots of laundry today -and throwing all the clean stuff in a pile in the hallway to fold and put away later...this week...yikes. I can't figure out how to change my profile settings in the new blogger format! So sorry! My email is sandy.memoryworks at gmail.
ReplyDeleteLike you Kelly; I have learned a great deal over the last 15 years of parenting my 4 babies. I have learned that letting my kids shower in the morning, instead of before bed is NOT a big deal. It is not the end of the world if the laundry in the dryer isn't folded until the next day & that having the house spotless is not always a possibility when it comes to running a household that is always on the go. For me the quality time with my family has become much more important to me than my need to keep upto the expectations of how society believes my family/ household should be/ look. I LOVE reading your blogs, you truly are an AWESOME person =) - No magazine needed, just a friendly response to your blag =)
ReplyDeleteAs a Working Mom, I have a lot to confess.....
ReplyDelete-As a lot of you have mentioned....Laundry..... Lets just say I get distracted and when I finally get around to doing laundry.....it isn't till the load finishes that I realized I forgot to put the SOAP in it! Not to mention that I'm probably on my re-wash cycle because I had already let the clothes sit in there for 2 days with out putting in the dryer and had to re wash because of mildew smell. (We wont go into the confessions about Putting the clothes away or folding them....)
Maybe I need some Holiday Ideas to distract my self from messing up the Laundry :)
leslee.wilson@zionsbank.com of Claytonandleslee.blogspot.com
One time I had just gotten home with the groceries and was rushing to put them away before I had to leave again. The cat was happy to see me and was wandering around the kitchen and sniffing out the food.
ReplyDeleteSomehow in the midst of it all, the cat ended up being tossed into the fridge and the lettuce ended up in the pantry.
As I was getting ready to leave I heard a muted "meow" from the fridge. Poor cat. I fed him oodles of treats, but I don't think he ever forgave me.
Ugh. Laundry. When it's clean, it's in piles. When it's dirty, it's in piles. Enough said:)
ReplyDeleteMy living room currently looks like a Jackson Pollock painting and I have no plans to straighten it up today - why bother, we aren't expecting anyone!
ReplyDeleteI compare myself to other moms who "appear" to have it all together and it makes me feel horrible and inadequate. I try to remind myself that I am doing a great job, but it's hard to balance everything and feel like I am doing it all well.
ReplyDeleteLove it! My confession...only one? Okay how about the fact that my children probably eat healthier than I do. I make them eat fruit and vegetables all the time, and they only eat one treat a day...but I sneak their halloween candy when they're not looking :)
ReplyDeleteI have a pile of laundry that just keeps getting bigger because I haven't folded or put them away for weeks. But, hey, they ARE all clean. :)
ReplyDeletehmmm, only one is going to be tough! LOL....
ReplyDeleteI have to use a timer every day (several times a day), to remind myself to get OFF the computer. Otherwise, it is 5 p.m., we are still in pj's, watching a movie for the 500th time, and haven't even began to think of dinner. Pizza night is way too often.
I have a couch which is beside where my clothes airing rack goes. Any clean washing goes on that, usually not folded. It's also my curl up with a book couch, so I've been known to curl up beside the clean laundry, ignore it, and enjoy my book.
ReplyDeleteYay. I'm really not the only one to do some of these things. My confession? I keep a package of diapers in the car at all times. I can't tell you the amount of times we've had to borrow a clean diaper at church or search for a close store to buy some because I once again forgot the diaper bag or have the bag but forgot to fill it before leaving home.
ReplyDeleteI'm not afraid to eat food that has fallen on the floor.
ReplyDeleteWhen we are expecting company, all the "stuff" goes in a box and gets hidden under the stairs.
Hi - Barbara again... I didn't change my email setting until after I left the comment!
ReplyDeleteMy Confession: A shopping bag with 2 lbs of onions in it went into the freezer....could NOT find those onions that I was sure that I bought!
ReplyDeleteI am SO, SO relieved to know I am not the only mom who doesn't have a designated bath night, or bathes my kids every night. Just when they need it...and it could be any time of the day.
ReplyDeleteOn the pajama one, I have you beat. I often stay in my pajamas all day. ;) especially while pregnant!
I have been known to put dirty dishes in the oven if I have company coming and no time to clean. ;)
And my floors don't get cleaned nearly as often as they should....
And my hair rarely gets brushed. but I promise you my teeth get brushed most regularly! :)
I'll be honest...Sometimes I go three days without a shower. And I wear the same clothes for many days before washing (usually not in a row, I couldn't let anyone see THAT, right? ;)
ReplyDeleteMy confession is that my husband does a lot of the housework. The other day I was Skyping with my parents and my husband was in the background cleaning the bathrooms and mopping the loors. I was so embarrassed when my mom mentioned it! Eeks! ;)
ReplyDeleteI'm bad with leaving PJs on til noon. I sometimes will put jeans on and leave my PJ top on all day then take a shower and put back on PJs! Oh, well!
ReplyDeleteI'm a mom of 18 month twin boys with a third due in January. I'll admit that my boys eat way too many pb&j sandwiches for lunch because I'm just not motivated to make anything more creative.
ReplyDeleteAlso my sons are going through a phase of putting everything they find in the playpen. The playpen is currently full to the top and I'm okay with it. My house looks cleaner as a result with out me doing anything. If I can't find something I just look in the playpen first.
Your comments brought a smile. We all have those little secrets that make us shake our head in dismay or giggle at our own private jokes. I hurriedly left for work one morning and glanced at myself in the rearview mirror. Lipstick on the top lip only... none on the bottom. How do you just apply to one part of your lips? Just had to take a moment ... laugh and fix the lips!
ReplyDeleteWell, as I type there is 5 loads of laundry behind me on the bed, floor, ironing board, etc...and they've been ready to fold/hang for three days. *sigh* Sometimes it's just getting started that's the hardest! :)
ReplyDeleteOn any given day, I have at least two "science experiements" growing in my refrigerator....you know the back forty where the left-overs go to never return! Also, I have been known to have a potatoe plant growing out of my potato basket :) My family comes first...housekeeping is a distant fifth or sixth on my list.
ReplyDeleteOne recent Friday, I hung my insulated lunch bag on it's hook. On Monday, I discovered I hadn't emptied the leftover contents. Ew.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I let my kids eat cereal for dinner, just so I don't have to cook a meal that will actually "please" them on a night when they don't like what we're having!...:/
ReplyDeleteI would LOVE a copy of a magazine.
ReplyDeleteMy own real housewife confession is: Until only recently I have been the messiest person=messy house. The kids never had clean socks, dinner never planned, can't find anything.... very disorganized house.
Your blog has been my inspiration to become organized and to keep everything looking pretty while I do it!
Thank you!
Jessica
My confession is I HATE putting clothes away! They will pile up all week long in our closet until I can't take it any longer then I spend several hours...usually on Thursdays putting them away while watching an old movie.
ReplyDeleteYou know those wagon wheel puff crunchy toddler snacks? Lifesavers! I just found a few, petrified under my son's carseat! He's eight. I think the puff is about six. We haven't used the seat in, oh, about five years. What are those things made of, anyway?
ReplyDeleteI still have my halloween decorations up. And I still have a Christmas card from a friend taped to the door frame. It is from 3 Christmas's ago.
ReplyDeleteI hope none of my friends read this! :)
ReplyDelete1. I'm embarrassed about the state of our bathrooms - hair, dog fur, dust bunnies. Yuck!
2. We just recently put away an Easter basket my daughter got this spring (her first).
3. I'm constantly wearing wrinkled clothing because we don't get our laundry folded or put away immediately.
Is that enough!? (I have more)
"3. I drink much more coffee than could possibly be good for me."
ReplyDeleteBlasphemy! (*Grin*) Especially when it comes to GOOD coffee, which entirely too few people take the time to make. (Such as myself). Keep up the good, (if imperfect) work!
I only shower on days where I know I am leaving the house. !!! That's my housewife confession.
ReplyDeleteLindsey @ babiesbooksandsigns.com
Lindseyaylward@yahoo.com
I only do dishes in the morning...I hate doing them! If I did them as we dirty them, I would NEVER leave the kitchen and by the time the kids are in bed at night, I am exhausted. Besides, if I start the dishwasher in the morning, by the time my daughter gets home from school they are ready to be put away (which happens to be one of her chores).
ReplyDeleteYou're an awesome mom and I'm so glad I ran across this blog! I bet you live states away but I wish we could get hot chocolate and converse. I can tell I would enjoy your company immensely. Beautiful family, new blog friend.
ReplyDeleteOh dear!!!
ReplyDeleteThat's the reason I LOVE blogs like yours. I really do!!
Fra
I have loved reading your blog, but I think that reading your confessions has been my favorite. Thank you for sharing. They made me feel better about sticky chairs and days when dinner is the last thing on my mind at 5 pm. I too tell myself that wearing pjs till noon (or longer) is a perk to homeschooling. Please continue doing what you are doing and allowing others to share in it!
ReplyDeletei LOVE your blog! ever since i found '31 days to an organized home' on pinterest i check it everyday.
ReplyDeletethis post is a great reminder that the perfectly kept homes on tv or in magazines are staged. my confession, if i had to just pick one, would be my fridge. i forget about the left overs all the time. its a shameful waste but on the plus side this problem is almost solved thanks to you kelly. i bought baskets today and have sorted things in my fridge like you posted about before. i hope it works for me.
thanks :)
I know this is way late, but I was reminded of a story my friends mother told me about cleaning house. This was back in the seventies when thick shag carpeting was popular and she was telling me that one time she had been scrubbing the house for two days because her in-laws were coming to visit. When they got there everything was spotless and the first thing her mother in law did was sit down in a chair, reach down and pull up a bean that had fallen and sprouted in the carpet.
ReplyDelete