Juggling Act

Now that I have been working my part time job for the last 3 months or so, I am starting to wonder, "how do mothers do it?"

I know that my situation is a little different since my kids are so close in age. I also know that there are other people who have multiples who make things work. BUT, I wonder sometimes if I am just lazy or they (parents with multiples or larger families) are just better at being parents/homemakers/wives/etc.

I grew up experiencing so much in life, camping, sailing, sporting events, etc. But, our house was never perfectly clean. That wasn't a priority. It was more important for us to chase the swells for my dad than it was to stay home and clean house.

This leads me to the difference between my husband and I with respect to priorities. If it was his way, our house would be spotless and I would not go "holoholo" so much. I agree that I don't want my house to be a mess, but, I don't want to stay stuck home everyday cleaning.

Anyone who knows my husband's parents knows that their house is immaculate. The kind of house where you don't want to put your drink on the table for fear of leaving evidence. On the other hand, my mom has crap all around.

So, which is better? I don't know. But, what I do know is that I would rather hang out with my kids than clean house. I would rather experience life that stay home and got stir crazy. But, I also know that the house needs to be cleaned. Just when? I work 2 and 1/2 days of the week. On my days off, I do laundry, clean bathrooms, and get caught up with other parental things.

My question is, how do other mom's do it and still keep a clean home and juggle work, cooking, running kids around, monitoring homework, volunteering in the classes, bed time stories, etc.? I just don't get how to do all of it and I'd love to get some ideas.