My husband has been on my case lately about my "lack" of housekeeping. Our messy house is driving him nuts. Sheesh! We just moved in and then we had Christmas and I was missing many bookcases and shelves in which to put our stuff and the whole time I had a major sinus infection that I only got rid of completely a few weeks ago and YES, housekeeping has gotten away from me. But, it is not an easy thing to keep a house clean when you have four active kids and a dog.
Oh! I forgot to tell you, we got a dog. He is a cute little thing. Half Chihuahua and Half Poodle. His name is Dash and he is five months old.
My hubby seems to think that I should be able to clean the house while the two oldest kids are at school. His reasoning is that I only have the two little boys to deal with and they can help. True. The girls (my entertainment squad for the boys) are at school and I do only have the two little boys (who I must now keep entertained and who can destroy a room in a blink of an eye). And the boys DO help. For example...
Today we made cookies together. First I cleaned off the counter while they watched. Then I got out the Bosch and cookie ingredients, while they watched. Then I asked Little Joe to crack the eggs for me. I reminded him to crack them one at a time into the little bowl I had given him. BabyCakes watched and I put the butter into the mixing bowl. Meanwhile, Little Joe cracked his first egg and dripped half of it onto the counter. Then he started saying Ew! Ew! And demanding that I put the egg shell in the garbage. I gently reminded him that he is five and can put the egg shell in the garbage himself. So he hopped of his chair, tossed the egg in the trash, then went to the sink to wash the egg off his hands.
Did he use a chair to reach the sink? Of course not! He just pulled himself up onto the counter to wash his hands and knocked a bowl off the counter onto the floor, where it shattered into many, many little pieces. Did I mention that the BabyCakes has been watching all this time from my arms? Yeah. He was. He is cutting teeth, again, and refused to be put down. Until now. Now that there are broken pieces of glass all over the floor, he demanded to be put down. And when I didn't comply, he hit me. In the face. Lots of times.
And he yelled at me. Loudly.
So, I instructed Little Joe to keep the dog away from the kitchen, got out the broom and attempted to sweep the floor using one arm while being attacked by my Baby. Fun.
I got that mess taken care of and we got back to cookie making. BabyCakes now insisted on being out of my arms and in the chair next to Little Joe. Fine. With my arms free I threw the rest of the ingredients together in record time. Then I started dropping cookies onto a pan. And while I was thus engaged, BabyCakes took several handfuls of flour and sprinkled them all over the kitchen floor and the chair (that we stupidly bought because it was comfortable, but it was only comfortable because the seat was a made of material and padding and is completely incompatible with children) and the counter.
How did I not see that coming??? Seriously!! How??
We fortunately finished the baking process with only a few other incidents. And when we were done did I clean the bowls? Did I wipe up the flour mess? Did I clean anything at all? NO! I feel completely wiped out. And of course, the house looks worse now then when my hubby left for work.
I just can't win. But hey. At least the boys helped. Right? ;)
8 comments:
Usually cutesy little couplets of the type found floating around the internet or on greeting cards drive me crazy, but one that I particularly take some comfort in is: "Cleaning the house while the kids are still growing is like shoveling the driveway while it's still snowing." (You remember snow, right? It's that cold white stuff you don't have to deal with anymore!)
Hope all is well with you!! Miss G had her 5th birthday party this weekend, and I thought of you laughing at Thomas getting the stuffing beaten out of him for picking on his little sister by Mason and your little guy Who Shall Not Be Named!
the deleted comment was me. I got a little bit carried away and I think it's safe to say that it's a good thing I live all the way over here OTHERWISE, I'd have to come punch someone in the face. True story.
Oh how I can sympathize!!!! I often have to remind myself that someday they'll all be gone and then I'll wish I had the messes back. But honestly, I don't think I will ever miss the messes, just the ones who make them.
Ah yes, a true day in a mother's life!
Kind of makes me glad that I'm old and my kids are big, HAHA! But I DO look forward to baking with my future grandkids, because that's a COMPLETELY different thing...when they go home, their grandma can clean up the kitchen in peace! Tee hee! ;)
BabyCakes smacking you in the face reminds me of when Zach was a baby...but he just bit me and pinched my armpits when I wouldn't put him down, haha! :D
By the way...I only mess with those zipper bag type packages of grapes at the regular grocery store, where I will be paying by the pound! I don't mess with prepackaged clamshells of grapes like at Sam's Club, where they are already measured and sold by weight...that would be some nasty cheating!
Some of those clamshell thingys have in small print that the produce inside needs to be washed before devouring...if it says that it's prewashed, I think you can trust it! :)
WHEW! I feel better now, tee hee! ;)
Post a Comment