As an older mother with my children grown, I would hope my experience could possibly help some of you younger mothers. As my children were growing up, I was always trying to have the perfect home, perfectly clean with dinner on the table for my husband at a precise time every day. STOP! Don't do this to yourself. Don't set such high expectations for yourself and your family. We are not June Cleaver. (I know, some of you don't have a clue as to who I am talking about. Just watch "Leave it to Beaver") All this does is make everyone around you miserable. And I know that is not what you want to do. At this point in my life, I wish I had been more forgiving of a cluttered house and not so intent on the kids rooms being at least picked up. After all, we weren't selling the house and no one saw their messy rooms mainly except them. So if they wanted to live in that, well... This is not to say that they shouldn't be taught responsiblity and cleaniness, that they should just be slobs. I did teach my kids from the time they were very young that we all lived in that house together and we all needed to help around the house. My kids received an allowance that progressively got larger in amount as they got older and took on more responsibilities. Each child had a certain chore that they were responsible for, depending on the age and by the time my kids were much older we could all together get the house cleaned in no time at all. There were times when we would "blitz", which is taking about 30 minutes to get the house straightened as if we were having company come. I think they all dreaded to hear me or Gary say the word. But with our extremely busy schedule of four kids in some kind of sport or activity year round, it was a necessary thing for us to do and keep our sanity. I think the main thing to remember here is that your children will grow up entirely too fast and some day later you can have that perfectly clean house. Make you house a home that is a sanctuary for them and your husband. That world out there can be pretty cruel sometimes and we all need a place of safety to come home to.