Having a Martha Home the Mary Way by Sarah Mae (book review)
Long ago, a woman decided to become a stay-at-home mom. She had zero domestic skill and very little (and hard-earned) mothering instincts. She struggled through learning how to clean toilets and change sheets (anyone else with a short wing-span find this exhausting?!), how to play with baby read stories over and over and over because playing is boring (don't judge).
Slowly she learned to love the mothering thing - singing baby songs and preschool songs and reading books over and over and over. She caught onto their love of Superheroes and made them love Star Wars. She loved to play outside with them, pushing them on swings, watching them run through sprinklers or slip and slides. She hung up works of art (some questionable) and kissed boo-boos (and put band-aids on everything because apparently they don't just stop blood but make life all butterflies and rainbows again) and picked up cars and trains and capes.
Yet the household thing was still a mystery. Forgetting to vacuum, laundry piles, cleaning the microwave and stovetop, scrubbing floors and toilets - what a drudgery. Then this woman read a little e-book called "31 Days to Clean" by one of her favorite bloggers, Sarah Mae. This little book walked her through Martha and Mary Challenges that dug at the heart and dirt in her house. I'm not sure she made it through every challenge but she definitely made her way to having a semi-routine to cleaning her home.
This woman currently has chore charts for herself and her children (although her own have taken a hit thanks to a new baby!), she meal plans, and vacuums the floors (sometimes). She loves when her house is clean (although any mother knows that's a short-lived thing with children home). However, she has trouble (this is not due to the new baby...or, mostly due to her...but some - this kid destroys so much LOL) keeping the house clean. Baseboards? Ceiling fans? Dusting? Where's the maid?
If you can't tell, that woman is me. I love being a mom and I have come to love staying home. I don't feel like my walls are crawling in on me (most of the time). However, I am just not naturally inclined to be a housewife. Someone put a little picture on Facebook that sums it up:
Just truth, sisters. Anyway, since I am such a bad housewife in the traditional sense of the word, I enlisted some help in the form of "Having a Martha Home the Mary Way: 31 Days to a clean house and a satisfied soul" by Sarah Mae. Wait a second?! Haven't I read this already? Well, yes and no. This is most of the same stuff but laid out nicer in a real book format (sorry, I'm not a huge fan of e-books; love the layout and feel of pages). I also have not compared and contrasted the two books side-by-side (nor do I plan to) so I don't know exactly what all is different.
I do know right now, I don't have time for a 31 day cleaning challenge. With our son's surgery next week, it may not be until July or August or September until I'm ready for this. But I'm trying to enlist another friend who doesn't love to clean to do the book along with me. I'm excited for it. I even had my son clean the kitchen counter yesterday (and plan to today) - one thing Sarah Mae says is to clean your kitchen counters & sink daily.
Little by little, I will get better at housewife stuff just like I have mothering stuff and wife stuff and friend stuff (I think). And if not, God loves me anyway!
Disclaimer: I received this book in order to give it an honest review. These thoughts and ramblings are my own.
Slowly she learned to love the mothering thing - singing baby songs and preschool songs and reading books over and over and over. She caught onto their love of Superheroes and made them love Star Wars. She loved to play outside with them, pushing them on swings, watching them run through sprinklers or slip and slides. She hung up works of art (some questionable) and kissed boo-boos (and put band-aids on everything because apparently they don't just stop blood but make life all butterflies and rainbows again) and picked up cars and trains and capes.
Yet the household thing was still a mystery. Forgetting to vacuum, laundry piles, cleaning the microwave and stovetop, scrubbing floors and toilets - what a drudgery. Then this woman read a little e-book called "31 Days to Clean" by one of her favorite bloggers, Sarah Mae. This little book walked her through Martha and Mary Challenges that dug at the heart and dirt in her house. I'm not sure she made it through every challenge but she definitely made her way to having a semi-routine to cleaning her home.
This woman currently has chore charts for herself and her children (although her own have taken a hit thanks to a new baby!), she meal plans, and vacuums the floors (sometimes). She loves when her house is clean (although any mother knows that's a short-lived thing with children home). However, she has trouble (this is not due to the new baby...or, mostly due to her...but some - this kid destroys so much LOL) keeping the house clean. Baseboards? Ceiling fans? Dusting? Where's the maid?
If you can't tell, that woman is me. I love being a mom and I have come to love staying home. I don't feel like my walls are crawling in on me (most of the time). However, I am just not naturally inclined to be a housewife. Someone put a little picture on Facebook that sums it up:
Just truth, sisters. Anyway, since I am such a bad housewife in the traditional sense of the word, I enlisted some help in the form of "Having a Martha Home the Mary Way: 31 Days to a clean house and a satisfied soul" by Sarah Mae. Wait a second?! Haven't I read this already? Well, yes and no. This is most of the same stuff but laid out nicer in a real book format (sorry, I'm not a huge fan of e-books; love the layout and feel of pages). I also have not compared and contrasted the two books side-by-side (nor do I plan to) so I don't know exactly what all is different.
I do know right now, I don't have time for a 31 day cleaning challenge. With our son's surgery next week, it may not be until July or August or September until I'm ready for this. But I'm trying to enlist another friend who doesn't love to clean to do the book along with me. I'm excited for it. I even had my son clean the kitchen counter yesterday (and plan to today) - one thing Sarah Mae says is to clean your kitchen counters & sink daily.
Little by little, I will get better at housewife stuff just like I have mothering stuff and wife stuff and friend stuff (I think). And if not, God loves me anyway!
Disclaimer: I received this book in order to give it an honest review. These thoughts and ramblings are my own.
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