Is It Possible

I've had a rough time this week.  See I was under the impression I could do it all, and this week has been a harsh reminder that I can't.  See, Once upon a time, I was a girl who looked at her mother in awe.  She worked, cleaned, cooked, look in style on a tight budget, and took care of her three children with what I thought was ease.  Over the last few years I have learned that she felt she made many, many mistakes.  As I look back on my childhood there are times when I agree with her and times when I don't.  I think she did the best she could with what she was given.  My mother is a saint, who is currently out living it up with my father on a two week vacation to celebrate thier 30th wedding anniverasry.  Lucky ducks.

But the question I propose is this.  Is it possible to be a good homemaker and a good mother?

I feel like everyday is a battle.  I could clean and organize and arrange a home I deem suitable for the family life I want, or I can play and teach my child and enjoy this amazing time of growth and love he has in his life right now.

I have continually chosen the latter, thinking that there would always be time to clean and organize and what-not.  Being a mom is hard work.  

At the end of most days I want to sit, read magazines, and enjoy the silence that comes from my sleeping child.  I feel an overwhelming amount of guilt that I should be cleaning up the kitchen, folding the laundry, or cleaning some room in the house.  I eventually go to bed with a messy house and just the minimal amount of cleaning done.  Plus a sink full of dishes I'll do in the morning after lunch and nap time, like I do every day, before dinner.

Oh dinner, yet another battle I face everyday.  As I'm trying to learn to cook, and provide balanced meals for my boys, I get frustrated when things don't turn out and my child will only eat Macaroni and Cheese.  I have given up on this battle, but not the war.  Rivers eats Mac and Cheese at least once a day.  I have found ways to make it healthier, and I always have a veggie on hand for every meal  (yes every meal) in case he wants to eat it.  Tonight was a good night, which lets me know I haven't lost the war.

Add on top of that all the fun things I want to do for the upcoming holidays, my calling the Young Women, and still finding time to spend with my every busy husband, I feel like I can't be both a good mom and a good homemaker.

So I'd like to open this up to discussion.

What are some ways that you, or your moms or grandmothers, have come up with for finding a balance?

Or is it even possible....