It seems like everyday I hear a woman talking about struggling to balance her life. You know that I am a believer of trying to find balance, at least whatever balance means to you. But, it’s a reality that something always gives.

Some days your work may suffer, other days perhaps your me-time suffers, and I’m sure a lot of days, it’s the house that suffers. That’s why we try to come up with a cleaning schedule and attempt to clean while working from home. It’s all in an effort to juggle our many roles and get a handle on our super mom expectations.

And, believe me, I know all about those expectations. I expect that I should be able to take care of my daughter, my house, and my husband. Taking care of myself was not something I was taught early on – it wasn’t until I was older that this became of importance. As I’ve mentioned before, I grew up hearing things like, “You have to learn how to cook and clean, because when you get older and get married, you’ll need to take care of your house, husband, and children.”

Now, I try very hard not to say things like that to my daughter. I don’t want her to learn how to cook and clean so that she can take care of others. I want her to learn so she can take care of herself. Instead I tell her: “We have to clean the house because we don’t want to live in a dirty house, do we? We want to take care of our things and be proud of where we live.” Pride. Orgullo.

In a way, that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? Outside of cleaning because we need our space to be clean for sanitary reasons, we also clean because we want to be proud of our space. Doesn’t it make you feel so much better when you look around your house and see it’s clean and in order? The days there’s a lot of clutter around, it’s almost like my brain feels cluttered right along with it. The minute it’s clean again, I feel a sense of calm.

I think pride plays a big role in how we take care of our house. At least, I find this is true for myself and many other women I know. Somos orgullosas de nuestros hogares. We are proud of our homes.

Do you find that pride plays a role in your home? Share with me any cleaning-related stories – either from your own childhood or from your adult life.

***Want to teach your kids to help clean? Check out this list of chores for preschoolers.

This post is an entry into the Mi Hogar Mi Orgullo contest.