One Step Forward, Two Steps Back
Do you ever feel like you spend the day walking backwards? I felt like that on Friday. I had a To Do list a mile long, which automatically means that Cooper doesn’t nap, Kenny doesn’t stay put in “quiet time” and Dudley decides today’s the day to bring a large stick into the living room through his dog door to chew up on the rug. In other words, not only did I not make a dent in the list, but I ended up further behind at the end of the day than I started. I tried to juggle playing with the kids and doing housework and did neither very well. In fact, I pretty much failed miserably at both. To top it off, I had to make dinner for our weekly small group and get everyone (and a hot meal) out the door on time. It was the kind of day when you realize just before kissing your hubby welcome home that you smell not-so-vaguely like vomit and there is a very good possibility that you haven’t remembered to brush your teeth. Or hair. Oh heck – or showered or even had a chance to pee in the last four hours.
Saturday looked up, it was Valentine’s Day after all! and Casey and I took the boyz to my parent’s house, where they were also watching my nieces, and headed out on the town for a fantastic dinner. We lingered over cocktails in the bar and didn’t even spend the whole time talking about the kids. Now that’s romantic!
I almost brought up to Casey that I’m feeling a little bogged down in housework and such, but we had so much fun I completely forgot about my own petty woes. I feel certain that I could catch up if I just had an hour a day to do it – but with Kenny no longer napping (he hasn’t since this summer) it just never happens. I do try to to enforce quiet time, too, but then I start to feel guilty because Cooper’s nap time is the only time we have to play together one-on-one, which he craves so much. Then there are the evenings, but who wants to mop the floor at 10 at night? I can’t even see the floor at that hour…
So when do you all do your housework? And how? Do you occupy the kids with something? TV? Do it during naptimes? Hire a nanny? A housekeeper? Flip with your husband? Tell me your secrets…
I typically get housework accomplished with the help of my 2.5 year old while my 8 month old either plays in the floor in the room we are working in or is taking a nap. Having the oldest “help” me brings a sense of us working together and that we are playing and spending quality time together – even though it isn’t time playing games, pretend or cars… . During the youngest’s nap I race to the shower and leave the oldest in some alone time absorbing an episode or two of disney cartoon – hey, they aren’t bad to watch – they are educational and always teach something – at least the ones he watches on playhouse disney. so an easy balance of help for chores and then some art/focused play mixed in is a good balance that works for my house. Never a chore in the evening, once husband comes home…only cleaning up dinner and picking up toys out of the floor before bed time. Just take it easy on yourself. Take one day to just stay in pj’s and play and then balance with teaching your oldest that chores are work that has to be done before/during play. I know that you are amazing at doing just that! Winter is hard because you are in doors so much that it all feels like it’s caving in on you. Spring is near!
February 16th, 2009 | #
I hire a housekeeper. She comes every two weeks, cleans the bathrooms, dusts, vacuums and mops the floors. Even when I did not work full time, I barely had enough time to get the day to day chores accomplished, much less keep bathrooms scrubbed. I am of the opinion that life is too short to spend all my free time cleaning. It is worth every penny.
February 16th, 2009 | #
I’m almost 8 months pregnant with my first and I always feel like I’m figthting a losing battle with juggling work and housework! I admire anyone who gets any housework done with two kids as well. We’ve just hired a housekeeper who comes one morning a week and what bliss! No more ironing or mopping or sweeping (my three worst things!) She is a real gem – fast and efficient, really has made a difference.
February 16th, 2009 | #
I try like Jessica to clean up while all of us are in the same room, I put my 7 month old on the floor and my boy who is 2-1/2 yr old “helps” me to clean up or plays with his sister, my husband helps a lot around here also sometimes we take turn in taking care of the kids while the other cleans up, or if we are luck and they both go to sleep around 8pm then we finish house work. We try to lock rooms that we do not use like the guest room so that it won’t get messy. It helps to have dirty clothes hampers in side the bathrooms so that they don’t get messy and we have 1 toy box upstairs and one downstairs to help us stay organized. I also “hire” my niece or nephew to come and help with house work or to baby sit while I clean up they don’t ask for much $20 bucks and they are happy :), they vacuum, clean tubs, take trash out, sweep and dust (which helps a lot). So may be it would be a good idea to hire a teenager from your neighborhood to keep your boys entertained while you clean the house. We also try to make 2 big dinner during the weekend and freeze them for the week nights, this works really good we love making spaghetti and freeze the sauce and all we have to do is cook the pasta and dinner is ready in 5 mins!When I get pretty stressed I just think about how precious the moments with my children are right now and how that is going to pass really fast and will never come back and that is a stress reliever for me. Don’t stress too much and enjoy your babies!
February 16th, 2009 | #
Have you heard of the Motivated Mom’s planner? You can google it and get it on the internet. It breaks up housework into a rotation so that you do about 5 small jobs a day, and the whole house gets cleaned by the end of the week. IT IS SO AWESOME! It is the only way I get things done.
February 16th, 2009 | #
I have a lady to clean the house that comes twice a week but I have known her since I was a kid and would rather her watch the kids so I can have me time-like running and going to the grocery alone-than clean so the house is pretty much a disaster. You don’t want to eat off the floor around here-although we do.
February 16th, 2009 | #
My kids are 2 & 3- 13 months apart, and it helps that they entertain themselves, but somehow I got it done when they were younger too. When I do laundry, they fold socks, underwear, and wash cloths. When I clean in the kitchen, they have craft time at their table in there. Other times when I clean, they play and entertain themselves, they have toys all over the house. Or I give them a spray bottle of vinegar & water, and let them wash windows, the dishwasher, refrigerator, etc. I do the bathrooms, and mopping once a week, usually while hubby has some time to look after them, and other than that I try to stay up with the clutter. But if I don’t, I will catch up eventually! I really don’t do much other than dishes, and picking up once they go to bed like Jessica, that is my time to unwind and exercise! Bottom line, you don’t have to feel like you are neglecting them while you clean. Kids need time to entertain themselves, it is good for development!
February 16th, 2009 | #
sorry,correct is “third son borned”
Hi, i’m a chinese mommy .i just have a boy ,haha
Actully,before your third son borned , i always went to your blog to see your beautiful pictures every week, and i really like your family ,especilly your two cute boys.
welcome to my son’s blog.
http://fan-xiang.blog.sohu.com/
February 17th, 2009 | #
Vivi Liu,
Thanks for reading MommyBlog from so far away! I only have two sons, though sometimes I refer to Dudley the dog as a child, so that’s why I say that I have “three sons!” ha ha… Thank you for the link to your lovely blog, too.
Kristjana
February 17th, 2009 | #
I have a full-time job and a two year old. The nice thing about the job is that there is no one messing up the house all day BUT you still have those things that you must get done like mopping the floor. My daughter is a good napper so I get a lot done on Saturday and Sunday when she is asleep. The other motto I like to follow is-you can do anything for 15 minutes. I try to do a chore after my daughter goes to sleep for 15 minutes. It doesn’t sound like much but it helps. Things that take 15 minutes are more than you think like switch the laundry from washer to dryer, mop the kitchen floor (at least in my house), clean 3 toilets, etc. 15 minutes doesn’t seem scary or overwhelming to me. Good luck! You are doing the hardest job there is!
February 18th, 2009 | #