You want to feel better about yourself? Read this post.

I am a horrible homemaker. There, I admit it. I assumed once I became a mother, I would naturally become a good homemaker--a domestic goddess,even. Ha.

“But Yin,” you are saying to yourself, “you are almost mumble-mumble years old. You’ve had years, nigh a decade, to become a good homemaker.” Um, yeah, about that. You see, I never really had to be a good homemaker before. When we were DINKs, we ate out for lunch and most dinners. When we decided to cook at home, it was easy to shop for all the ingredients that day and have all evening to cook the delicious meal—what a novelty it was. (Yang is wondering, “when did we cook at home?”). Also, a house doesn’t get that dirty when one leaves at 7 am and returns twelve hours later. So, cleaning once a week did the trick. (Yang is wondering, “we cleaned the house once a week?”).

It’s different now.

I now know how quickly a house gets dirty when one actually lives in it. I now realize that it can be a bit difficult to plan menus and shop for the whole week (on a budget). I now realize that it’s challenging to cook dinner with an almost eight month old who thinks she is one year old. No matter how long I wait, the dirty dishes from breakfast and lunch sit there until I do something about them.

Here’s evidence that I’m a crappy homemaker. Notice the food still in the high chair.

Notice the darling baby girl crawling on a dirty floor.

Notice my kitchen counters at 4 pm. (Yes, that is a Campbell’s soup can. I am a horrible cook, but I’m trying. Tuna casserole anyone?) Also, please note that rather than cleaning up my kitchen, I chose to plop my behind in front of the computer and type this post. Ha!

So, to all you awesome moms and dads who cook meals for your family and keep a relatively clean home, my hat is off to you! You are awesome. You are my inspiration. I’ll get better, right? I won’t be cooking with Campbell’s soup cans forever, right?

You know who else is my inspiration? Nie Nie. The first time I heard about her was when Runningfan posted about her accident. After that, I read all of Nie Nie’s archives. I know I will never be like her, but she makes me want to be a better wife, mother, and homemaker. That woman is amazing, and I pray that she recovers.