Don’t Vacuum While the Dog’s Sleeping: A Story About Juggling Responsibilities

It’s almost a If You Give a Mouse a Cookie type story. You know the one? “If you give a mouse a cookie, he’s going to want a glass of milk. If you give him a glass of milk, he’ll probably ask you for a straw.” And so on.

Well, if you vacuum while the dog’s sleeping, then you’re going to wake him up.

If you wake him up, he’s going to need to go outside.

If he goes outside, he might get all muddy from digging in the dirt.

If he gets all muddy, he’s going to need a bath.

If you give the dog a bath, you’re going to get all wet.

If you get all wet, you’ll need to change your clothes.

And on and on it can go.

There are a lot of responsibilities we juggle as women, and while maybe a bit silly, I think my example shows that we can have some guidelines to keep us focused on what matters most and taking advantage of opportunities that come our way.

Let me share a few more examples of how we might prioritize our tasks and still finish what needs to get done by keeping things in their proper order.

Focusing Only on the Tasks Can Create Chaos

Now, I confess that I am a planner, complete with a to-do list to check off each day. My family might tease me, but it’s the only way I know how to remember what needs to get done and when.

But even if you’re not of the planner type, chances are, when you get up in the morning, you have some idea of what needs to happen that day: work, errands, chores, meetings, and so forth.

I’ve learned that if I’m too focused on getting these things done, it can actually create chaos in my day.

Imagine with me: I just run through my checklist without any regard to others in my house.

I lock myself in the bathroom to get ready in the morning without thinking about my little ones who might need to use it first or their bladders are going to explode.

I put a load of laundry in the washer right as my husband is getting in the shower, thus lowering his water pressure at times and maybe even stealing some of the hot water.

I use the washer without realizing my husband needs to get something cleaned really quick before he leaves for the day. But now he can’t because I’m using it.

I sit down to complete my work tasks when my kids have questions about their schoolwork or need help getting a game out for them to play.

Everyone is sitting peacefully—including the dog—when I insist on moving everything around to vacuum and clean.

In each of these cases, everyone is getting frustrated or upset because they can’t do what they need to do. And I might very well be the cause of it all, because I’m only focused on the tasks, not the others around me.

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Recognizing an Opportune Moment

Now, are there times when we just need to get something done? Absolutely.

Are there times we need to sit down privately on a call and ask the kids to wait until we’re finished? Yes.

What I’m talking about are those more flexible areas where we can be intentional with keeping our priorities in line and learning to recognize an opportune moment when we have one.

For example, if my kids are playing on their own, I might pull out my computer and work on something until my attention gets pulled away. My so-called “work block” might not be until later in the afternoon, but it doesn’t mean I can’t take advantage of the quiet moment while I have it.

Or maybe I have to run to the store to grab some milk and I decide to use that trip into town to stop by the bank, as well, even though I wasn’t planning on going until tomorrow. It saves me the time and gas it would take to drive into town the next day.

Or maybe the kids want to play a game together as a family, and I recognize that might not always be the case as they get older, so I set my chores to the side and choose to play the game. There’s always tomorrow, right?

Do Things in the Proper Order

But it’s about more than recognizing an opportune moment; it’s also about doing things in the proper order. Let me give you some examples.

It makes a lot more sense to mop the kitchen right before we leave the house or start our quiet time so the floor has a chance to dry without us walking on it.

It helps a lot when I spend some time with my younger son first in the morning, so that when it’s time for me to work with his older sister for school, he’s ready for some time on his own.

The laundry is more likely to get done if I start with the towels—because they’re easiest to fold and put away—and then move on to everyone’s clothes.

It has been really great to eat supper together as a family, and then as the children go off to play, have a few moments alone to talk with my husband about our days.

If I try to switch any of these up, it just doesn’t work as well. They’re out of order.

Journal Prompt: How might you better recognize your opportune moments and proper order of things?

This week in your journal, I’d love for you to think about how you can better recognize your opportune moments and proper order of things.

Ask God to show you when one of those opportune moments appear and what He wants you to do in that moment. It might involve enjoying some extra time in His Word, or reaching out to a friend, or maybe even taking a nap while the dog is sleeping.

You can also ask Him to reveal to you any ways in which you might be doing things out of order. Is there a way, by switching around the order in which you do things, you can better care for your people and also take care of what needs to get done?

A Prayer:

God, You often use the everyday stories of life to teach us lessons, and it is no different here. You’ve used my dog to teach me about making the most of little moments and doing things in their proper order. I pray You continue teaching us what this means and what it looks like in each of our lives, that we might honor You with the choices we make in how we spend our time. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

RELATED EPISODES + RESOURCES:

• Episode 32: Using Pockets of Time in Your Schedule to Encourage Others
• Episode 48: The Power of Pre-Deciding in Difficult Seasons

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