My New Heartbeat: Just Let Go and Embrace the Mess

I remember visiting a friend’s house in college – four boys living off campus. Soiled clothes were thrown across furniture. Empty bottles all over the place. Every surface sticky. At the time, I thought it was disgusting. Now, it basically describes my life with a newborn.

Keeping a clean house has always been a priority of mine. But lately I’ve had to channel my inner-Elsa and just learn to Let It Go.

Sometimes you are just too tired to put that empty bottle in the sink right away.

Sometimes, you don’t have the five minutes needed to wash your hair.

Sometimes, you have no clean clothes so you just wipe the spit-up off your pants and go on with your day.

I realize that an always-clean house and a completely put-together appearance would require constant vigilance.

I’d do nothing but clean in an effort to keep up with my infant’s mess. So instead, I embrace the grossness.

Babies can’t help themselves when it comes to bodily fluids.

Those fluids are gonna come out any which way, at any given time.

When prepping for a new baby, you can stock up on burp clothes, hand sanitizer and all the wipes in the world.

You will still find yourself with baby puke in your hair and poop on your shirt sleeve.

New moms should not feel like they are failing for allowing themselves to fall behind on cleaning. It simply reflects a choice.

We are choosing to spend the day with greasy hair and dirty yoga pants because we are busy keeping the baby clean and fed.

We decided to let the dishes pile up a little longer because we want to snuggle.

We allow that mystery stickiness to remain on the counters because, heck, we just need a nap.

Embracing the mess is a challenge for many moms, but I can attest that stress levels go way down if you just lower your “clean standard.”

At least temporarily, let your home feel like a frat house.

Your cleaning supplies will still be there when your baby is older.

Watch ABC36 News at Noon on the first Monday of every month to see Katie review her favorite products for mom and baby.