- For me the state of my house usually directly correlates with the state of my mind - tidy house = tidy mind.
BUT
I don't want to ever give you the impression that life at the Flutter house is all clean and tidy, because quite frankly it's not!! Just because I like to have a tidy house - doesn't automatically mean that I have one. I am not the only one that lives here after all, and there are also some weeks that I just let it slide so that I can do other things - e.g. live my life...
This weeks was one of those weeks! My house looks like an absolute tip!
- Like a toy bomb exploded, a hurricane decided to rip all of the clothes & books my children own out of their drawers and empty them on the floor and swirl them around messing them up even more.
My maid (aka me) decided not to put away the washing, or the dishes, or make the beds, or generally just tidy anything up.
The main factors of the total destruction of my house:
a) I chose to sew instead of clean this week, and let the children go to town trashing my house. It gets old nagging them to put away their toys all the time so I'm having a few days break from that.
Also quite frankly I can't do everything & some weeks something has to give in order for me to sew/work.
b) I have been looking after a third child during the days to help out a friend while she does some extra work for her final university semester. And any mother knows kids directly = mess. Especially Abbie - at 14 months old she is very skilled at emptying drawers/cupboards/bookshelves and walking the mess happily from one end of the house to the other.
c) I have a cold. And because I'm tired it feels like man flu. Therefore I couldn't care less if my house was clean/tidy. I'd just like to not have a headache & runny nose!!!
So anyway the point of telling you all this, other than to set you straight if you somehow thought I was a super hero who can do everything all at once (because I'm not! Just a girl who likes to sew & occasionally would rather ignore the mess in order to do it) is to tell you that there are sometimes benefits to having your house look like it's been burgled!
Remember back to the last paragraph where I said I had 3 children to look after & felt grim. Well on Friday this led me to do something of paramount stupidity...
... I left the house at 11am, ferrying 3 children, two bags & 1 booster seat out in one go, all while trying to calm down & soothe a tantruming daughter who did not want to put on her shoes and keep my head from exploding with frustration and pain until my pain killers kicked in and numbed my headache. Are you with me mums? Sound familiar?!
So I eventually get everyone in the car, pull away, go and have a very enjoyable morning I must say with this fine lady, who is like salve for the soul, and enjoying the fact that my children behave and nag me far better while out than while at home.
I arrive back home at about 2pm only to find my front door WIDE OPEN.
- My right-at-the-front-of-the-house-OPEN-TO-THE-STREET front door.
Um.... slight panic!!!
So leaving my sleeping children in the car I hesitantly get out and creep to the door. Keeping in mind that it's been just on almost a year since we were actually burgled, and I still bear a few scars and anxiety from that.
And I listen...
No noise except for the sound of my dog whining and scratching at the back door for me to let her in. (Thank goodness she was home but out the back!)
So I peer around and survey the damage.
Stuff e.v.e.r.y.w.h.e.r.e
My heart sinks
- my brand new laptop I instantly think... I haven't backed it up yet :(
I creep inside and look into the first 2 rooms...
You can hardly see the floor for stuff.
There is an open, empty wallet strewn on the carpet just almost immediately in front of the front door next to an empty handbag.
My heart sinks further...
Then I look around a bit better. Hang on - DVD player still there- check...
Oh, that empty wallet is my old one that I gave the girls to play with, that's right...
That empty handbag is there where I threw it because I decided to take the nappy bag this morning instead.
... I run to the office with goosebumps...
Laptop open where I left it this morning - check
Camera bag where it normally lives - check
This end of the house covered in stuff too - but when I look closer it's our stuff.
Our mess...
Our doing...
So- I have no idea if someone actually did come to our door while we were out and have a look inside. But I like to think that if they did they would have thought "Meh - someone's already been through here... won't bother then..."
Because I have to think that there is some benefit to having my house look this bad this week. And when this headache clears I'm sure that I will grow tired of stepping over the toys and stuff, and I will have the desire to deal with it.
And no doubt it will look this way again in another few days time.
Housework is nothing if not predictable!
So there you go. That is the realistic state of my home.
Thank goodness it wasn't any worse!! - I will be checking the door twice next time I can tell you.
But I like to keep it real here so I thought I'd share that with you.
Because I think that as Mummy's of young kids it's just impossible to do everything, and I don't want to even try. Most weeks something just has to give.
(Although lets hope next time it's just the mess & I can at least manage to secure the house effectively when I leave!)
So if you have ever asked me "how do you do it all?"... then there you go, the answer is that I don't.
I too struggle to "do everything" just as much as the next girl...
It's just the reality of life as a Mummy.
But I still wouldn't change it for anything!
That is all...
11 comments:
Excellent post because (a) I live in a tip half the time because I would rather sew, (b) my head can explode even when I don't have the man flu and (c) I have left our front door wide open for hours on end when the girls were little. I think burglars are more inclined to think someone must be about somewhere. I have also tried to pull out the drive with the passenger door wide open, only realising when it went clunkity, clunkity, clunk down the picket fence. It's life in all my imperfections.
I love this post too! I left my keys in the front door overnight not long ago and we live in a town house with my car almost directly across the parking lot from my front door (not all that far away). Luckily my husband found them in the morning.
ROFL, oops! I think I may got with the anti-burglary excuse going forward, because it's just me here, I make my mess, so I have to deal with cleaning it ;o)
I have left my car unlocked for several days by accident, and both my flatmate and I have left our front door unlocked as we headed out to work, thinking the other was still in (you have to turn the key in our lock to actually lock the door) We've just been incredibly lucky!
Yes, I can totally relate! So glad that you were not burglarized. You are juggling an awful lot with watching an extra child and a terrible cold. It always amazes me how quickly the chaos and clutter appear when you have kids! I [too often] let it go, and then it gets out of control. But you do what you can, and the kids are the priority (and sewing, too!) I hope that you get over this cold quickly!! It sounds awful. Thanks for sharing and keeping it real!
You are a superwoman! And you tell a good story. I like a tidy house, too, but it's impossible with 3 kids and a husband!!! I actually enjoy Mondays because he's back at work and I can straighten up and keep some semblance of order. Weekends=no tidying up. That is kind of scary that someone may have been in your house. Hope you feel better soon!
Yippee! I'm so excited for you! Can't wait to hear you you are all getting along once you get to know one another :)
Great story! I remember those days with children.....
oh Kat... I don't know whether to laugh or cry LOL... you poor thing... I think we have the same maid btw :)
Oh, Kat - I feel confused, too - you poor Darling - so much to contend with and not feeling well - never mind, better days ahead!
Hugs - Lurline♥
Oh dear, sounds a bit like my house. I have left my keys in the door twice this week. How we have any stuff left I don't know. Mind you husband is not much better, he left car doors open all night enabling our friendly raccoon to have a party in there.
No matter what you say, you still get to wear your superhero cape whenever you want to!!!!
I have a sort of similar story: I used to share an apartment with my best bud, Bill. Perfect roommate setup too - our bedrooms were on opposite sides of the living room, and we each had our on en suite bathroom, on the 2nd floor, corner of the building. Odd thing, when you opened the ft door, you were staring at a wall. Turn right & walk down a hallway to get to the livingroom. Anyway....I used to work just about a 3 minute walk from the apt. There was a "significant" earthquake one day, and after calming down a bit at work, I got my boss to walk down to my place with me to check it out. {back story, my boss was a total OCD neat freak!} I unlocked the door & he walked in first...."Oh boy, it looks pretty bad in here Sue." My heart was in my throat.....then I cleared the hall & stepped from behind John - and LAUGHED! "Nope, this is just how it looked when I left for work this morning!" A few things had tipped over, but no damage!
Hey, but at least my door was closed & locked. (But where I live now, sometimes the ft. door opens on its own.)
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