When James was a baby, even though he was nursing every 2-4 hours, it was relatively easy to maintain a schedule around here. Mondays were for dusting & vacuuming, Tuesdays mopping, Wednesday start laundry...etc. etc. and dinner on the table when Jake came through the door after work. Now that James is older, and more independent, that schedule is out the window and sometimes I can't stand it!
Cleaning is futile while James is around. Someone remind me why I bought a glass coffee table? Dog hair dust bunnies? James freaks as soon as I pull the vaccuum out. If I want to use it, I have to carry him around the whole time or he screams and cries hysterically. When he's napping, I'm scared to even pull it out for fear of waking him up. (Especially now that he only takes one nap a day) Thursday I had to actually baby gate him in the living room to get the job done because I had had enough! (And no, getting rid of the dog is not an option) How do other moms do it? Is this how it is? Do I just need to learn to let go or somehow reorganize/manage my time?
James got up at 8:30 yesterday. After breakfast we played with his toys and I chased him around while he laughed his head off. We watched the Wiggles and then spent a great deal of time climbing on and off the couch while teaching him "up" meant mama would help him. While he napped I caught up on e-mail and started designing our family Christmas card. I didn't get a chance to clean the upstairs bathroom, or file the stack of bills that I've paid. Sometimes I have to stop and remind myself of the days when I worked full time outside our home. I was stressed out about lesson planning, the yearbook, getting grades done, getting home to make dinner, and about getting laundry done. Even though I was behind on the housework then, I certainly didn't have this:
After lunch, while I made oatmeal cookies (experimenting with egg and butter alternatives) James climbed in and out of my pots and pans cupboard shouting "Baa!" (which means Boo!) or "Mama!" By the time dinner was done, James was in bed and I was getting into the shower, it was 8:30 pm. (I did manage to get several loads of laundry done too!) But how lucky am I, to be able to spend the whole day, in my Pj's with my son?
2 comments:
i went out for pumpkin beer last night with a group of child-less women, and we were all talking about how hard it is to manage our work stress, relationship stress, and still have time to make and eat a decent dinner. i almost never mop.
How do other moms do it? I can't tell you that this mom just plain doesn't bother. My house is a disaster area. I don't even bother vacuuming. I can't have guests. Sad but true.
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