Here is an example of my last post. There is always something to be picked up! On a sidenote, Maia did the horse puzzle all by herself. She was very proud!Sunday, September 14, 2008
Look Past the Cute Girl
Here is an example of my last post. There is always something to be picked up! On a sidenote, Maia did the horse puzzle all by herself. She was very proud!
My Latest Excuse for a Messy House
Since only people who know me personally read this blog, all of you are probably aware that I am not necessarily the most vigilant housekeeper around. I do try, but sometimes life gets in the way of having a neat home.
When I worked, I would often experience “the snowball effect.” Everything in my life would be chaotic at once, and I didn’t know where to begin fixing things. I’d often spend entire weekends just taking care of “routine” tasks. For example, my desk at work would get cluttered and at the same time, my car would be a wreck. I’d walk in the door to my house exhausted only to find more things that needed immediate attention. Dishes would be in the sink waiting for the dishwasher to be emptied. Toys would be strewn across the floor. Our dining room table would be covered with mail and coupons that I’d been meaning to get to. The laundry would be piling up, and, in our worst moments, even the trash we hadn’t had time to take out would be sitting near the door waiting. Not to mention that I needed to think about dinner options because Yoshi wasn’t coming home until 6:30 or 7:00.
We would spend at least one day per weekend just keeping up with the chores. If Yoshi and I both cleaned, we could get everything looking presentable within a few hours. We blew off some weekends, and the mess just escalated. Maia was usually plopped in front of the TV during these intense cleaning sessions. It was not the way I wanted to spend my quality time!
During the many conversations Yoshi and I had about whether or not I should take a break from work, I mentioned the stress that I always felt about our house being a wreck. I told him that if I were home, I could take care of the cleaning and keep things organized; therefore our life would be less chaotic. And I believed it! I imagined a freshly vacuumed picture-perfect house with everything put away neatly.
What I failed to take into account is the sheer tediousness of repeating the same tasks over and over. Don’t get me wrong, we have made a lot of progress: The piles of paper have been organized and filed neatly. Our dining room table can be used for eating dinner again! The dishes and laundry are done and put away on a daily basis. Dinner preparation no longer involves frozen convenience foods. The recycling and garbage are taken out immediately. Even my car is cleaner!
Yet I’m still not satisfied because try as I may, I can’t achieve the picture-perfect house. Toys are still strewn about, as well as shoes, and occasionally discarded clothes intended for the hamper. I really feel that if I were to stay on top of all that, I would do nothing else during the entire day! After all, no sooner is it cleaned up, than something else replaces it. I guess that’s what happens when there is a three year old living in your house!
I was reading a book about household organization the other day at the bookstore, and was absolutely shocked to find an entire chapter devoted to ADD. Yes, it’s true. Apparently, if you have problems with concentration, keeping a clean house is a huge challenge mostly because it is boring. For a second, it all made sense to me. Undoubtedly, I have trouble with concentrating for long periods of time. When I was a child, I remember being teased about going to “la la land.” I’ve always coped pretty well, but still find myself easily distracted. According to the book, people with ADD tend to procrastinate on projects so that a deadline will be looming and FORCE them to complete the task and concentrate on it.
This is the story of my life. I don’t think I have ever written a paper for school early. I always wait until the last minute and then crank it out. The same can be said about my housework. Last year I invited some friends over for a gathering on beggar’s night figuring it would be fun to enjoy some pizza and have our kids walk around the neighborhood together. I didn’t consider that it was a weeknight, and that I would somehow have to make my house presentable before everyone came over. Rather than be embarrassed, I woke up at 3:00 a.m. for a cleaning-fest before leaving for work. Yoshi did not mind being humbled by a messy house, or he figured we could take care of it right before everyone came over, so I was on my own.
After reading the ADD chapter, I realize that there is probably some truth to it, though a lack of discipline contributes as well. Nonetheless, I’m happy to have the time to take care of things before they get too out of hand. Perhaps I’ll never have a “perfect” house, but I hope to achieve the balance between having to clean every waking-moment and having a happy, comfortable home I am not embarrassed to invite somebody into if they visit unannounced. It’s a work in progress.
When I worked, I would often experience “the snowball effect.” Everything in my life would be chaotic at once, and I didn’t know where to begin fixing things. I’d often spend entire weekends just taking care of “routine” tasks. For example, my desk at work would get cluttered and at the same time, my car would be a wreck. I’d walk in the door to my house exhausted only to find more things that needed immediate attention. Dishes would be in the sink waiting for the dishwasher to be emptied. Toys would be strewn across the floor. Our dining room table would be covered with mail and coupons that I’d been meaning to get to. The laundry would be piling up, and, in our worst moments, even the trash we hadn’t had time to take out would be sitting near the door waiting. Not to mention that I needed to think about dinner options because Yoshi wasn’t coming home until 6:30 or 7:00.
We would spend at least one day per weekend just keeping up with the chores. If Yoshi and I both cleaned, we could get everything looking presentable within a few hours. We blew off some weekends, and the mess just escalated. Maia was usually plopped in front of the TV during these intense cleaning sessions. It was not the way I wanted to spend my quality time!
During the many conversations Yoshi and I had about whether or not I should take a break from work, I mentioned the stress that I always felt about our house being a wreck. I told him that if I were home, I could take care of the cleaning and keep things organized; therefore our life would be less chaotic. And I believed it! I imagined a freshly vacuumed picture-perfect house with everything put away neatly.
What I failed to take into account is the sheer tediousness of repeating the same tasks over and over. Don’t get me wrong, we have made a lot of progress: The piles of paper have been organized and filed neatly. Our dining room table can be used for eating dinner again! The dishes and laundry are done and put away on a daily basis. Dinner preparation no longer involves frozen convenience foods. The recycling and garbage are taken out immediately. Even my car is cleaner!
Yet I’m still not satisfied because try as I may, I can’t achieve the picture-perfect house. Toys are still strewn about, as well as shoes, and occasionally discarded clothes intended for the hamper. I really feel that if I were to stay on top of all that, I would do nothing else during the entire day! After all, no sooner is it cleaned up, than something else replaces it. I guess that’s what happens when there is a three year old living in your house!
I was reading a book about household organization the other day at the bookstore, and was absolutely shocked to find an entire chapter devoted to ADD. Yes, it’s true. Apparently, if you have problems with concentration, keeping a clean house is a huge challenge mostly because it is boring. For a second, it all made sense to me. Undoubtedly, I have trouble with concentrating for long periods of time. When I was a child, I remember being teased about going to “la la land.” I’ve always coped pretty well, but still find myself easily distracted. According to the book, people with ADD tend to procrastinate on projects so that a deadline will be looming and FORCE them to complete the task and concentrate on it.
This is the story of my life. I don’t think I have ever written a paper for school early. I always wait until the last minute and then crank it out. The same can be said about my housework. Last year I invited some friends over for a gathering on beggar’s night figuring it would be fun to enjoy some pizza and have our kids walk around the neighborhood together. I didn’t consider that it was a weeknight, and that I would somehow have to make my house presentable before everyone came over. Rather than be embarrassed, I woke up at 3:00 a.m. for a cleaning-fest before leaving for work. Yoshi did not mind being humbled by a messy house, or he figured we could take care of it right before everyone came over, so I was on my own.
After reading the ADD chapter, I realize that there is probably some truth to it, though a lack of discipline contributes as well. Nonetheless, I’m happy to have the time to take care of things before they get too out of hand. Perhaps I’ll never have a “perfect” house, but I hope to achieve the balance between having to clean every waking-moment and having a happy, comfortable home I am not embarrassed to invite somebody into if they visit unannounced. It’s a work in progress.
Monday, September 8, 2008
I am woman...hear me roar!
Today started off as what could only be described as a bad day. My lovely daughter soaked through her pull-up last night and climbed into our bed in that state this morning, creating a laundry nightmare before I was even fully conscious. Then, as I was struggling to get some sort of beverage into my poor system, our cat wouldn’t leave me alone, so I gave him what he was begging for: some milk. As I was attempting to return the gallon of milk back to the fridge, I somehow lost my grip and kerplat…it fell to the floor. Of course, the flimsy lid flew off and the contents of the container gushed out. My oh so quick reflexes caught it before the entire kitchen had flooded.
Just when I thought the day couldn’t get much worse, I discovered that some critter somehow got into our garbage can and had made a huge mess in our driveway. Let’s just say I’m glad I’m not in the first trimester of my pregnancy, because I probably would not have been able to do clean up all the old garbage without getting severely nauseated. Luckily, I managed this task and silently thanked Yoshi for all the times he has had to do it when I left the lid of the can on a bit too loosely.
So, you are probably wondering, exactly which part of the day made you feel like an empowered woman? Well, despite my disastrous morning, I decided to try my hand at mowing our lawn for the first time in my life. Yes, that is correct. I have never mowed a lawn before. I guess my parents were afraid I would somehow injure myself or break the lawn-mower. For most of my adult life, I lived in apartments, and Yoshi has always mowed our lawn since we moved to our house.
Unfortunately, poor Yoshi has been very busy lately single-handedly remodeling our basement. He has been letting the lawn go, and I have been a little annoyed by the excess bugs, and also worried about what our neighbors must think. Today when I was driving Maia home from gymnastics, I saw a woman mowing her lawn uphill! Well, I was inspired and decided to take matters into my own hands. After all, how hard could it be?
With Maia, safely in the house watching a video, I managed to turn on the lawn mower with the help of the directions pictured right on it. Though I exerted a little more energy than I needed to, it was an overall positive experience. When I say I exerted energy, well, I didn’t realize the lawn-mower had a lever you were supposed to pull if you wanted to go forward much more quickly. I used my own force instead of the “power” version. Now that I know about the “power” lever, I might even do this on a regular basis.
Yoshi was quite proud of me when he came home, and I felt proud of myself as well! It feels good to know that I can take care of myself when necessary and won’t have to rely on a lawn-service someday. Next step: adding gas and oil to the lawn mower. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Just when I thought the day couldn’t get much worse, I discovered that some critter somehow got into our garbage can and had made a huge mess in our driveway. Let’s just say I’m glad I’m not in the first trimester of my pregnancy, because I probably would not have been able to do clean up all the old garbage without getting severely nauseated. Luckily, I managed this task and silently thanked Yoshi for all the times he has had to do it when I left the lid of the can on a bit too loosely.
So, you are probably wondering, exactly which part of the day made you feel like an empowered woman? Well, despite my disastrous morning, I decided to try my hand at mowing our lawn for the first time in my life. Yes, that is correct. I have never mowed a lawn before. I guess my parents were afraid I would somehow injure myself or break the lawn-mower. For most of my adult life, I lived in apartments, and Yoshi has always mowed our lawn since we moved to our house.
Unfortunately, poor Yoshi has been very busy lately single-handedly remodeling our basement. He has been letting the lawn go, and I have been a little annoyed by the excess bugs, and also worried about what our neighbors must think. Today when I was driving Maia home from gymnastics, I saw a woman mowing her lawn uphill! Well, I was inspired and decided to take matters into my own hands. After all, how hard could it be?
With Maia, safely in the house watching a video, I managed to turn on the lawn mower with the help of the directions pictured right on it. Though I exerted a little more energy than I needed to, it was an overall positive experience. When I say I exerted energy, well, I didn’t realize the lawn-mower had a lever you were supposed to pull if you wanted to go forward much more quickly. I used my own force instead of the “power” version. Now that I know about the “power” lever, I might even do this on a regular basis.
Yoshi was quite proud of me when he came home, and I felt proud of myself as well! It feels good to know that I can take care of myself when necessary and won’t have to rely on a lawn-service someday. Next step: adding gas and oil to the lawn mower. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Friday, September 5, 2008
My budding young artiste!
Isn't this the funniest expression? Daddy took this picture and she saves her best faces for him.
Is this reminiscent of Van Goh or what? Hopefully she will not go mad and send her ear to an ex-boyfriend when she grows up! Let's stick to painting and coloring pictures of princesses.Art Museum Foibles
Today was such a rainy day, so Maia and I headed off to the art museum. The last time we had this adventure, she was barely two years old, so she spent most of the time running through the galleries. I trusted this time would go better.
The beginning of our adventure was excellent. The DAI has a special children's area with opportunities to create their own masterpieces as well as work on math skills a la Roman numerals. I picked up that worksheet for when she gets older. Maia was very interested in coloring all the pictures and looking at the artwork intended for children. Once we were done in the children's area; however, our trip took a turn for the worse.
Perhaps I should have previewed the galleries before taking in my three year old, but I don't really believe in censorship, so I didn't even consider the fact that the art museum might be a disturbing experience. Clearly, it was scary for poor Maia. First of all, the rooms are gigantic and have a cavernous atmosphere. We were pretty much the only ones there, so this lent an eerie feeling to the entire experience. Even I felt kind of eerie, though I tried to act normal.
Even worse, we went into the European exibit, and there were lots of pictures of wars and people dying. It definitely was not all horses, baby portraits and flowers. Maia's grasp on my hand got tighter as we walked by some of the larger-than-life paintings. I could see her little brain trying to process why these things looked so scary. Then she said, "Mommy, I want to go to the car now." I felt like a horrible mother as I tried to find the way to the nearest exit wondering if this would somehow traumatize her for the rest of her life.
I'm sure we'll head back sometime soon, but maybe we'll stick to the Egyptian room or something a bit more kid-friendly. I'll do more research first.
The beginning of our adventure was excellent. The DAI has a special children's area with opportunities to create their own masterpieces as well as work on math skills a la Roman numerals. I picked up that worksheet for when she gets older. Maia was very interested in coloring all the pictures and looking at the artwork intended for children. Once we were done in the children's area; however, our trip took a turn for the worse.
Perhaps I should have previewed the galleries before taking in my three year old, but I don't really believe in censorship, so I didn't even consider the fact that the art museum might be a disturbing experience. Clearly, it was scary for poor Maia. First of all, the rooms are gigantic and have a cavernous atmosphere. We were pretty much the only ones there, so this lent an eerie feeling to the entire experience. Even I felt kind of eerie, though I tried to act normal.
Even worse, we went into the European exibit, and there were lots of pictures of wars and people dying. It definitely was not all horses, baby portraits and flowers. Maia's grasp on my hand got tighter as we walked by some of the larger-than-life paintings. I could see her little brain trying to process why these things looked so scary. Then she said, "Mommy, I want to go to the car now." I felt like a horrible mother as I tried to find the way to the nearest exit wondering if this would somehow traumatize her for the rest of her life.
I'm sure we'll head back sometime soon, but maybe we'll stick to the Egyptian room or something a bit more kid-friendly. I'll do more research first.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Can you sense the excitement?
I had big plans for all the things I would get done during my 2.5 hours of freedom. I envisioned myself going shopping or cleaning the entire house, but I ended up catching up on my DVR'd episodes of Oprah and sipping coffee on the couch. Hey, sometimes a girl needs her down-time! I was definitely feeling refreshed and perky when it was time to pick her up.
Today is her second day of school, and she was a little less enthousiastic about stopping what she was doing and getting dressed, but she was still happy to go. I packed a picnic lunch for us to eat at Cox Arboretum after I pick her up. Hopefully it won't be too hot out!
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Pre-School!!!
Today was Maia's first day of pre-school. The day started around 6:30 when she woke up and stripped off her clothes in an attempt to get herself dressed. I assured her that we had plenty of time and that she had better eat breakfast before getting dressed lest she get some food on her outfit for school.
When we arrived, I was escorting Maia into the building when she dropped my hand and said,"I can go in by myself." The moment was definitely bitter-sweet for me. While I was glad I didn't have a sad little girl on my hands, I would have liked for her to miss me at least a little.
It went so well that I found myself wishing we had enrolled her in a three or five day program instead of just two days a week. Next year we will definitely look into that!
When we arrived, I was escorting Maia into the building when she dropped my hand and said,"I can go in by myself." The moment was definitely bitter-sweet for me. While I was glad I didn't have a sad little girl on my hands, I would have liked for her to miss me at least a little.
It went so well that I found myself wishing we had enrolled her in a three or five day program instead of just two days a week. Next year we will definitely look into that!
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