Aaaaaagh!
Monday, knowing the landlord was coming to fix the crater in our driveway (that's what a couple of crazy, icy winters will do), I cleaned like a manic woman. My laundry room sparkled. I'm sure he could have cared less, but I felt better. When he laid on the floor to fix the burned outlet, I knew when he would get up, there would be no crusty clothes stuck to his legs or dryer lint in his hair.
On Friday, I walked into the laundry area and could have cried.
There sat full hampers of clothes, towels, coats and blankets. Wet football boots had a green, musty cloud floating around them and swim gear hung from the radiators.
I will still be doing that laundry into the middle of the week.
Aaaaaagh!
This is ridiculous, this trying to keep up. How do people do it? You, you over there with your hundreds of followers, hundreds of comments, beautiful photos of your happy children in clean clothes, how do you do it? Are those even your children, or did you hire them for the day?
I'm flailing.
For example: even though there is plenty of shutter snapping going on, I'm not killing myself over the 365 any more. Too many 11.59 pm photos of my keyboard, a potted plant, stacks of muddy shoes. I could feel the joy for photography dissipating as each week progressed. I had to know when to say "enough".
There's certain warning behaviour that appears just before I teeter on the edge of crazy (some of you long-time followers may have already spotted it)-- I start buying things I don't need and don't have time to use. I drool over scrapbook sales and go all dizzy smelling a new book. A new hobby? Sure, I'd love to, let's stock up on supplies. The thing is, what I really want isn't for sale on Ebay, Amazon, BooKoo or at the local shops.
No one will mail it to me.
I want a big, shiny box of time. One I can pull out and inhale the sweetness of it. Big enough to allow me to be crafty, toy with Photoshop and Picnik, make beautiful cards, just play and still allow me to have quality time with my Hubby and kids.
Who makes time? Where can I get it?
Today, I'm looking at it in the form of a young man on a tractor.
It smells like freshly cut evergreen and rich, damp earth. It's going to cost me in pounds, but what I will reap is a few hours of my husband that would have otherwise been spent up on a ladder.Maybe paying someone to do the things I can't keep up with is worth giving up what I never needed to afford it...
*hug* things sound crazy over there for you... my mom hated the idea of having someone over to help clean, but warmed to it, when she saw how much it relieved her stress.
ReplyDeleteyes, use the money you would other wise use on non needed items, to bring someone round every couple of weeks or once a month! :) you could do with a breather. and soon those kiddies will be old enough to do their laundry etc... although i barely remember to do mine, my mom certainly hasn't done my laundry for a while!
Oh dear! I hear you sweetie! Things do have a way of piling up when you are sure you had done it already!!??!! I don't know how that happens either. Me, I hire someone to clean once a month. A good deep cleaning. I love it!! Laundry we do together on Sunday and fold and put away on Sunday and Monday. This year I am hiring someone to help us with yard work too! Or I will never have a nice garden.
ReplyDeleteHire out dearest one...get some help!! Nothing wrong with that!
Hugging you
SueAnn
Well, if it's any consolation, I completely understand where you're coming from. I absolutely can not keep up as well. It's so hard when it seems like the rest of the world does just fine.
ReplyDeleteHang in there. We all do the best we can (well, a lot of us), and if you can afford to get some help sometimes, definitely go for it. That time truly is priceless.
Oh I so hear you...and it will all be quiet someday. And you'll wish you had a little less time;) Seriously. That being said, I want to come play!
ReplyDeleteAwh sweet Jeri, you have Miss Ky and she is a full time very cute but deadly wrecking crew, that is a big job! Then you have all these other people to feed and love and drive around. And you blog and spend time with us so that you don't go crazy. Do you have a schedule for chores? Sometimes routine can help. Washing every other day---so it doesn't pile up? Teaching the older kids to help? And YES definitely hire some help and a gardener once a month. Your yard is huge and formal and needs the manicure touch. Hire quick.
ReplyDeleteIf you weren't across an ocean I would come to play. I am a laundry queen. and then we would hug and I would give you something chocolate to eat.
Those people that seem to have perfect lives and seem like they keep on top of everything are probably just posting the good stuff.
ReplyDeleteMy house is a mess. There are many clothes on the laundry room floor and that pile has attracted ants. My grading is significantly behind and the students are sending nasty emails. My kitchen counters cannot be seen, the bathtub has some black stuff around it, and there is enough hair on the bathroom floors to repopulate my father's bald head. My dirty kitchen floor leaves dark shadows on the socks of my children's friends and I have one very small, boring blog. There. I feel better now :) How about you?
ReplyDeleteI hear you. I know how you feel. The perfect people do not exist however. Sometimes you just think that they do. And that part about keeping up... with laundry...and life... well, it's impossible. You just go ahead and take what you get, enjoy the special moments... Sometimes you just have to stop... and breathe... and breathe again... and stretch... And then continue doing whatever you were doing.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing. Take care. Love/ Jo.
Truly, there is no such thing as a perfect family & a perfect family life. Some people are just better at making it look like it's perfect. I learned that long ago.
ReplyDeleteAnd you know what? 10 years from now, no one is going to even remember how great a housekeeper you were or were not. But, they will remember how much you loved them & what great care you took of them. Men & children seldom, if ever, notice anything like a clean/dirty house or laundry. Okay, maybe they prefer to wear clean clothes but they don't care if the house is clean. If you were to ask my grown kids if I was good housekeeper while they were growing up they would honestly tell you they don't remember. And I was not at all good. Every time the house was clean no one would drop by. As soon as it looked like Hell had taken over, one of the Stepford Wives would drop by. I think it's one of Murphy's Laws. Besides, when the kids are grown & gone, you'll have a nice tidy home all the time. Well, I obviously don't, but I don't try that hard, LOL!
We have a pretty big yard that my husband used to try to handle himself. But it was seriously taking 4 to 6 hours every Saturday and he still never got everything done. It is so worth the money to pay those three non-English speaking gentlemen to do it for us!
ReplyDeleteAnd who has clean kids? Isn't that an oxymoron?!
I have one day off from my 2 year old a week and I try to fit my entire life into that one day while the baby naps.
ReplyDeleteMountain of laundry? Check!
Dishes in the sink? Check!
Unwashed kids? Check!
Cupboards full of abandoned hobbies? Check!
Not enough hours in the day, and in all honesty none of it is that important.
Relax. :)
Maybe it's just that time of year? Time of month? I've got my crazy going over here as well. Have some chocolate and snuggle with your hunny and kids.
ReplyDeleteI hear you loud and clear. My in-laws came to visit this past weekend. They haven't been here for several years. I went around cleaning like a mad woman doing things I had let slide. I was a wreck trying to get things done and not all of it got done that I had intended to do. They were here about three hours. After it was over and they left again, I kept asking myself why I went through all that torture because I don't think they would have even noticed if I hadn't done what I did.
ReplyDeleteIf you find anybody that has that box of time on sale, I hope you let me know about it. I could use a few boxes too!
Hugs to you! I think hiring someone to help out is an excellent plan by the way. :)
Hello, hello. By the way, I thought your avatar was the Old Chicago's sign for the longest time, so my advice may be suspect on the grounds that apparently I'm incidentally a bit dim. I only had one chid, and he's nineteen...so I've got plenty of time, these days.
ReplyDeleteHowever, my husband, the veteran of a family of seven kids advises: Put them to work a bit.
Don't sweat the small stuff, and almost all of it is...yes, we've all heard that one before, and it's impossible to follow so let's skip it.
BUT...if the kid is old enough to make muddy boots via football, he's likely old enough to participate in the cleaning process of the mess they leave :-)
Just a thought, and it looks like you have sons...teach them how to do laundry, early. Introduce them to the vacuum, and a duster or two. I'm not talking child labor practices here, but don't feel like you have to do it all, on your own.
Call a meeting, hand out chores, introduce them to the concept of equality, and the "if you make the mess, guess who's going to be cleaning it up? I'll give you a clue: it's not going to be me. " theory of universal fairness.
Future spouses of both genders will thank you for your efforts, you'll have more time...
It's a thought! But if it isn't one that appeals to you, then just remember, you're worth a lot more than just what your house looks like. If your kids feel loved, supported, and your husband can say the same thing? And YOU can say the same thing?
That's always, always going to be the living stuffing out of a clean laundry room floor :-)
so much wisdom at the end of this
ReplyDeletewell you know I can't keep up!! I think it is very smart to hire someone. good for you!!
ReplyDelete