Yesterday I decided to use Felicia's nap time to deep clean one of our bathrooms. It was long overdue. I cleaned the drain in the tub (how the heck did all that hair get in there? GROSS!) and cleaned the sink drain, too, which is now good as new. Did some purging of empty shampoo bottles, products that I no longer use, and random things that somehow accumulated under the sink. I cleaned the toilet and bleached the tub and sink. It is a delightful room now. I am tempted to take an epsom salt bath when I get the chance!
The trade-off of using nap time that way was that I didn't get to start dinner until Felicia had woken. She was not a happy camper while I was trying to cook, as she wanted 100% of my attention. I need to figure this out. Now that I am home I would like a clean home! I would have liked it before, but things had to be sacrificed in the name of survival. I am already finding that being home has many benefits (I can run laundry during the day, I can empty the dishwasher before 5:30pm, etc) but it is also frustrating that all of these projects are constantly in my face and I don't feel like I can get things done while Felicia is awake. I am in the process of trying to nail down a cleaning schedule that will work for me. But...
OUR HOUSING SITUATION IS STILL UP IN THE AIR. Some things that I know would make life easier have to wait for now and may have to for the foreseeable future. Like childproofing the kitchen cabinets and getting room darkening shades for bedroom windows (Felicia has a lot of trouble sleeping at night now that it is so bright out, but we don't want to invest in shades that might be useless after our move). Why do it here when we are moving at the end of September? It does drive me crazy that it takes approximately 1.2 seconds for the girl to completely empty all of the pots and pans while I am, say, checking on the quinoa that is cooking for dinner.
Speaking of moving in like 2 months...we don't currently have anywhere to go! Here is our situation:
- We know we want to live near my husband's job
- We haven't really gotten any house hunting done, due to my husband's job and the fact that...
- We thought we'd have a family-owned rental house (my husband's parents own it and the renters [who are also family] hadn't paid rent in several YEARS until now, after they were told they had to leave July 1st...then they started paying and are staying put) to move into during house hunting but it recently fell through and...
- We only have one working car that my husband takes every frickin' day to work unless Felicia and I drive him (which gives us over 3 hours of wasted time on the road just to drop him off/pick him up...very frustrating to spend 3 useless hours in the car just so I can pick up groceries during the day)
- We have a second car that needs repairs but we know we only want it as long as we live this far from my husband's job (he will bike once we live close enough, leaving me with a car, THANK GOD!)
Right now our options seems to be:
1. Try to rush and find a house before the end of September, risking buying something we aren't really happy with but then living near his work and being able to just have one car and getting our home actually set up permanently.
2. Moving in to my husband's parents' basement, still requiring 2 cars since this is even further from my husband's office, but then not being locked into anther rental lease somewhere while we try to buy a house near his office. I don't really like this option!
3. Renting somewhere near my husband's office, month-to-month if possible, requiring only one car, and house hunting like it is going out of style so we can set up a permanent residence.
My husband is not worried at all about this. I am like...how the heck am I supposed to make things work being home when we don't even have a home in 2 months?! I never imagined being in an apartment at age thirty (and likely thirty-one...). The problem right now isn't money...it is still TIME that is the issue. You would think that by now I know life doesn't go as planned. Ay yi yi...
Wow - I'm a little behind on your updates! I've been on a bit of a "technology break" so to speak for the last couple of weeks. Anyway, congrats on making a decision about work. I wish you the best of luck with your new SAHM venture and look forward to the updates! A few thoughts as I read your recent posts...
ReplyDelete1. I know what you mean about having a very "helpful" toddler underfoot and I too struggle with how to get stuff done (which for me is still evenings or weekends since I still work out of the home). Recently I've had some success with giving him little jobs to actually help with (feeding the kitties, "stirring" in an empty bowl while I cook, standing on a chair - probably dangerous I know! - and "supervising" while I work). He loves it and I get a bit more done! She will probably also get more used to playing some on her own as she adjusts to the new normal - while you were working she probably got used to demanding 100% attention when you got home, but now you'll be home all the time!
2. Consider room-darkening curtains instead of shades - even if they're not fitted perfectly to the size window they're relatively cheap (cheaper than shades anyway). We got huge ones for maybe $15-20 and even though they're way bigger than the window, they totally block all the light. Then when you have a more permanent situation you can cut them down to size or get the fancy shades?
The housing situation sounds so stressful - I'll be thinking of you and praying for some resolution for it soon! I agree option 2 sounds terrible :)
Felicia likes to help, too, especially in the kitchen. She is often beside me on a chair or step stool. Yesterday while I was cooking I set her up at the sink with water and some plastic cups/bowls to "wash". She LOVES that but yesterday I turned to chop an onion and when I looked back she had removed her diaper cover (while standing on the step stool) and was washing THAT in the dish bin. For the love! She thought it was great. Me, not so much.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip about the shades/curtains...I will be looking into that this weekend!
And, dear Lord, I get sick when I imagine living with any of our parents! I do NOT want that at all, even temporarily (and I adore his mom and dad...I just like having my own space and schedule!).
That's hilarious about the diaper cover! I don't understand how they're so fast. You turn around for one second to do something and they've dunked every last piece of clean Tupperware into the cats' water bowl (not that that's happened to me...)!
DeleteSo stressful. You never know about house hunting quick. We didn't have a deadline or a reason to move fast but we ended up falling in love with and buying the second house we looked at on our house hunt. So you never know! Things change fast! Couple of thoughts:
ReplyDelete1. Can you get those cabinet locks that go over the knobs so that you can then take them with you when you move and reuse them where ever you go?
2. What about prepping a meal the night before. When Felicia goes to bed. Not every night but maybe 2 days a week so you can spend the next day's nap time cleaning. Even if you don't fully cook the meal the night before, chop the vegetables or make the casserole so it only needs to be put in the oven. Maybe not ideal but could save you tons of time.
3. Remember you do not need to be supermom. A SAHM is a full-time job. You did not quit working you just switched jobs. So a sink full of dishes or a mound of laundry and a happy kid is a SUCESS!!!
Thanks for the ideas! Our kitchen cabinets don't have knobs or handles here...we'd have to go with the latch kind that attaches to the inner door and hooks on to the cabinet frame (does that even make sense? Ha! I am not sure what they are called!).
DeleteMeal prep the night ahead is something I should get back into. I got too burnt out trying to do it during the school year and it has left me dreading it! Although, now with extra time/energy is would be great to do! I like the idea of maybe a couple nights a week instead of trying to do it all on the weekend or trying to do it every night!
Thanks for the affirmation. I am lucky that she is a pretty happy, healthy kid! And I am thankful she is mine! I still can't believe it sometimes!
Hi! I've anonymously stalked your blog for a while now :) I stay home with my 15 month old and understand how hard it is to get things done while feeling like I should be able to do more because I am home. I utilize my crockpot quite a bit and also try to do kitchen chores (dishes, meal prep) while my son is eating in his high chair so I can chat with him but he's occupied. He jumps at the chance to climb in the dishwasher the second he hears me open it if he's not confined :) I also have a couple cabinets I let him play in bc it keeps him busy (Tupperware, etc). I am very sympathetic on the moving issue - I am 32 weeks pregnant and we put our house on the market less than 3 weeks ago. It's been crazy. Ideally, we'll sell it and find another quickly but finding that perfect scenario is not easy! My husband thinks we should just move in with my parents for a few months... He's nuts. I adore them, they're wonderful and would take us in but the idea of bringing a very busy toddler and a newborn into their home? I just can't do that to them! Or myself, I need space!! I look forward to updates on your continued adjustment to staying home and where you end up!
ReplyDeleteHi! I should try to do more crockpot meals. We eat a vegetarian and gluten free diet when it comes to dinners (my husband eats meat on his own, my husband and daughter both occasionally eat wheat/other non-gf foods) so I'll need to find some more good recipes to try! I've done mac&cheese (with rice pasta), lasagna (with veggie "noodles"), and some soups but so far that is about all for the crockpot.
DeleteI clean the kitchen/cook when my daughter is in the highchair sometimes, too. Now that she is such a climber/walker/helper she would much rather be on the step stool next to me. ha! She is a hoot and I just need to be okay with things taking longer :)
Congrats on your pregnancy! And, goodness, that is a lot of added stress with the move! Do you still blog anywhere? I saw your dietitian blog from 2012. I am sure you are too busy to blog much with a 15-month-old and another on the way...but I'd like to read about your experiences, too!