So I did some dusting and vacuumed.
I assembled this new shopping cart... so I could spend the rest of the day threatening the kids with time outs if they crashed it into things and woke the baby.
I rearranged the boy's room and they worked with me to tidy it up.
(Sunday afternoon Travis made a loft bed for Ben, who now has a regular mattress. It took him less than 3 hours to make it, because he's awesome. It still needs to be painted, which is my job.
JF has inherited the Thomas bed to sleep on, instead of a crib mattress on the floor, and JP has inherited the crib and will no longer have to sleep in the bouncy chair.
All of this is good because JF usually sleeps on the floor but ends up in our bed or on our floor. Ben also usually ends up in our bed, as does L. But now Travis and I each have a twin sized mattress we can retreat to when L, B, and JF have taken over our bed.)
I rounded up Doggie Dog, Monkey, and Mousey Mouse and washed them so they wouldn't look so disgusting. (Does anyone else have kids who chew on their animals? Sometimes it gets so bad that poor Mousey Mouse's tail is kinked and stiff.)
I also folded and put away a couple of loads of laundry, made bread, got the dishes done, and I actually made my bed.
Of course I didn't shower, brush my teeth or comb my hair but whatever! I got things accomplished!
I, too, find that I do the most cleaning when I am at my least clean. Saturday was like that for me. I was a veritable cleaning tornado, and held out the promise of a nice, hot shower as my reward for getting down and dirty (in the housecleaning sense of the phrase). The shower never happened, but the house did get clean! Of course, you'd never know from looking at it now…sigh.
ReplyDeleteSounds like my day too! Laundry, sorting through piles of junk mail, vacuuming, dinner, errands.... I'll shower tomorrow ;)
ReplyDeleteI am laughing so SO hard reading this! I nearly wrote something similarly inspired. Except I didn't get quite so much done. But I am usually the same: it's me or the house!!
ReplyDelete...last Friday...I was mulling over writing a post like this as recently as Friday.
DeleteI just wanted to let you know that when I was a kid my special stuffed animal was a mouse and I chewed the Dickens out of its tail. I am now a well adjusted grown woman who doesn't feel the remotest need to chew on strange things for comfort. so there's hope. and I totally agree about the inability to keep both myself and the house clean. Heaven forbid I should actually have to look nice for something, then the house looks like a tornado struck.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, I am so relieved to hear that. Two of our kids chew on stuffed animals (specific ones) and their blankets and sometimes I'm a little worried.
DeleteI think it's because we feel like, "Well if I'm already gross, I might as well do some more work before I get clean and relax." But then you never get to the point of getting clean and relaxing!!
ReplyDeleteI'm totally like that. If I shower the day I should be cleaning the bathroom, I'm like, "Nope." Quick question for all of you about washing stuffed animals- what's the best method for you? Sometimes I'll mask with febreeze or Lysol because I'm so scared of ruining the animal, but I know I should be washing them...
ReplyDeleteSome stuffed animals I have washed in a pillow case on a gentle cycle and then air dried. The ones pictured I just throw in with the towels and put in the dryer. A couple I have cleaned with a soapy rag and then did my best to wipe/rinse off and sprayed it with Lysol for good measure.
DeleteOooh! Great tip on the pillowcase! We were just asking that question ourselves the other day since the kids have been sick. We'd love to freshen up the stuffed zoo!
DeleteHa! Other than the teeth brushing, I am right there with you! I also find that the worse I am feeling and less I want to do, the better it is that I do something. Activity generally makes me feel a little better. I am also finding that a new development is that I am productive when I am mad - I actually clean and tidy. I don't even know who I am anymore!!
ReplyDeleteSo thankful people don't just stop by our house. I would have to hide, though I did finally put on a bra just in case a delivery man came to the door with a package...
I know for me, the reason I get more done on days that I feel scuzzy is that those are the days that I don't go anywhere. Going places interferes with my productivity. For example, today we had homeschool coop, and I've basically been on the computer all afternoon trying to relax after dealnig with a bunch of preschoolers. Not very productive. Days we don't leave the house, we get a ton done.
ReplyDeleteI have to plan showering in my routine. And I try not to overwhelm myself. Like today, I showered, and prepared dinner while the kids napped. I purposely showered today so I wouldn't have to tomorrow because tomorrow I plan to vacuum, mop, and dust, and eat leftovers from today. If I have the energy I will shower but I'm not going to feel bad if I don't. ;)
ReplyDeleteOh and I wish Clark chewed on animals. He chews on the sleeves of his long sleeved shirts and looks like he dipped his arms in a pool up to his elbow. It's gross. Excited for short sleeve weather.
ReplyDeleteActually Clark did chew on his Mickey Mouse security blanket. It had a Mickey head attached to it and he would chew on the nose to the point where it almost came off. Yea it got stiff and crusty gross. I washed it in my washing machine. We have a "hand wash" cycle on our machine and I love it. Comes in handy for so many things!
ReplyDeleteMy kids chew everything and it drives me positively bonkers.
ReplyDeleteMy mom always said, you can get a lot done in a bathrobe!
ReplyDeleteI wash a couple of "lovey" stuffed animals somewhat regularly - I don't like to use Lysol, etc., precisely because my kids chew on them. The website I originally used apparently no longer exists, but cleanstuffedanimals.com is similar. They have tips for both washing and "dry cleaning" with baking soda (though I would not use a dryer sheet when drying as they recommend. Our Pooh bears cannot "smell funny!").
Another random thought: since your kids seem to need to sleep with someone else at night, any chance they would go to each other's rooms? A sort of family bed without the parents. It wouldn't work in my house, but your kids seem to find each other comforting. :-)
Lol I tend to get way more accomplished when I don't bother to take a shower as well - I seriously hate not taking a shower, but if I jump into the day first thing, everything just flows better :-)
ReplyDeleteLove the Thomas bed - and I'm glad to hear other people have perfectly good beds for their kiddos that they (the kids) don't sleep in - we put everyone to sleep in their own space and wake up with everyone in our bed - though I have to admit, I kind of like having the kids all in our bed :-)