Confession

Notice the clutter covering the kitchen counters. ugh

My mom is an organized, orderly person. She keeps a clean, generally clutter-free house and although it drove me crazy as a child trying to meet her standards, I now greatly admire her ability to do so.

So during her visit last month, when she was admiring my creativity and various sewing projects and said to me, "grandma and I just wonder where you find time to do it all," I laughed and told her the way I "do it all" is by being a terrible housekeeper.

"I will walk past piles of toys and clutter on my way to the sewing table," I said.

And she responded with something like, "but that's okay. I think it's better to be making things and creating than cleaning up all the time. I wish I was more like that--able to ignore the messes and be creative. You can always clean, but you can't always sew."

Here is where I pause so that all my siblings can shut their dropped jaws. I know, right? Who knew our mother favored creativity over cleanliness. Who knew?

Up until that conversation I have always thought of this as a major weakness for me. I love to make things and hate to clean up afterward. I will step over toys and piles of laundry and full of dirty dishes and (heaven help me), I will even clear off a little spot on the kitchen counter just big enough for cooking dinner. I am not one of those who can't cook a meal until the kitchen is clean. No way.

More than I care to admit, I've been mortified when someone stops by unexpectedly and they get a glimpse into my cluttered life.

But, hey, mom says its okay. So, at least today I feel a little less pressure to make a major overhaul of my housekeeping skills. Like that will ever happen.