Black Holes are fascinating to me. Basically, they are created by a star that collapses on itself and creates a gravitational force that prevents anything, even light, from escaping its pull. There have been a few Black Holes discovered in other galaxies and whenever they talk about them, I find myself so interested and wished I had been better at physics because it really is a cool subject and when combined with this astronomic phenomenon, I geek out.
A supermassive black hole at the center of a galaxy (not ours)…
image from: http://maxim.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/science/science.html
When I think about all that energy trapped and all the things that will become trapped as the black hole expands, I can’t help but think about how my own energy gets sucked into the black hole of housework. Our house is clean but it definitely could be cleaner. Every morning when I wake up, I just look around at whatever room Hurricane Daughter has blown through, I sigh. There is no catching up on housework when there is an almost 4 year old in the picture. There is no “I’ll just quickly clean this room” because there is a “helper.” Even though she has the best intentions, the Daughter’s help often results in more cleaning.
I am starting to try to use her “help” to get better results but I still look at the things like, cleaning the hardwood floors, washing the walls, cleaning the toilets (my least favorite thing of all to do thanks to the couple of years as a hotel housekeeper), and sigh because after playing with the Daughter, getting the work that pays the bills done, and then spending time with the family, there just doesn’t seem to be enough energy to do those nasty chores.
After all…the house can wait. The Daughter will be turning four in a few weeks. She won’t be like this forever. I am going to save my energy for playing, laughing, and making memories. Because someday, when I’m gone (yes a kind of morbid thought but it’s the truth), she won’t remember how clean the floor was or how organized the closet was. She’ll remember that we laughed; that we made funny faces at each other; that we read together; that we danced in the living room together; that we spent time together.
This blog post is part of NaBloPoMo January 2013. The theme this month is “Energy” and today’s prompt was “Which daily tasks take up the most of your energy?” Check out other great blogs that are participating and feel free to join the fun!
I have always loved that sign! i want to get one for the new house when we move. I miss mine during the day while they are at school, but whatever cleaning doesn’t get finished while they are gone gets pushed till the next day. Like I told my husband last week, the kids won’t remember that there was a pile of dishes in the sink, they’ll remember that we danced all night on DDR!
Exactly! I also need to get that sign and post it at the door!
Housework, the dreaded chore that never ends. I have all adults in my house and yet still I have to clean up after them. My husband can be particularly bad. However, he does respond when I point out that he may only have minutes left to live if he leaves a mess in my newly cleaned area.
The Husband has actually taken over laundry which is lovely! He even folds it and puts it away!
Love your post, really love your writing style…found you through NaBloPoMo… & you’re right, there is a life beyond cleaning!
Thanks for the kind words!!
I watched a show on National Geographic the other day about our universe. They said that it is even possible that we are living IN a black hole!
Dawn
Wouldn’t that be something?! It might be sucking all those socks from our dryers!
That’s something I never thought of! And where DO those socks go?
I’ve taught my son to clean up after himself. He’s 3 1/2, hopefully this will continue on. Whatever toys his takes out, he needs to put away before he moves on to something else. I’ve been doing this since he could walk and he rarely needs reminders (hopeful that continues too!).
It makes it easier to keep the rest of the house clean when everyone is participating – and the fact that my husband does the vacuuming!
I wish I had that resolve last year to really teach her that. I’m trying now to do it and she’s getting better about it, but it’s still a struggle for me for some reason. Maybe it’s because I was a messy child too? I don’t know. In the end, I guess it’s not the worst thing in the world.
I love the second sign! i have a 5 yr old at home still who just loves to “help” lol
It’s hard not to let them do their “help” because you don’t want to discourage it but sometimes you wish they would go find a toy to play with in another room! LOL