I admit it: the stress got to me. For those of you following along, you know we have been getting the house ready to put on the market. The kitchen is done and the house is a mess. I have been polishing, cleaning and organizing cabinets, pantries, closets etc. and in the meantime, everything else is a mess.
When getting your house show ready, the daily picking up and all gets put to the side and all the areas where you normally hide stuff, toss things, etc. are now going to be open for inspection at any time. It is exhausting. And it led to this…..
I scurried around at 4:30 yesterday: finding shin guards, feeding kiddos, packing water bottles and snacks, many layers of clothing (darn early spring around here) and at 5:00, had the fam buttoned up and strapped into the car. Just as I sat my ageing rear end in the car, my daughter said ‘Mom, why do you keep telling us to pick up when your room and this car is a mess. You see what is coming right? I opened my mouth and let loose for two of the longest minutes my kids and husband have ever experienced.
Here is a summary of what I ranted off: ‘Oh, why is the car and my room a mess? Oh, you mean between the laundry gathering, cleaning, folding an putting away, dishwashing, pantry emptying and repacking….between the cabinet and stainless steel polishing and the entire household trim cleaning, I was also supposed to clean this car and put away the huge piles in my room?” PAUSE….look on faces change from surprise to almost annoyed….
“Or, you mean between your birthday party planning, toys putting-away, wood floor polishing, grout scrubbing and shoe donating, I was supposed to do the rest? Maybe, just maybe the three of you, who also belong in this family, could pick the stuff off the floor of the car that you put there and then maybe the car would look decent? Or, maybe if you all would take the piles of clean and folded laundry up the stairs instead of walking around them, I could do all the rest.”
I then turned around, shut my mouth, took a deep breath and realized, I need to take a few more deep breaths.
Upon arriving at the soccer field, I said ‘I love being a mommy and wife but as you can see, I only have the same amount of time each day that you have. Sorry for freaking out on you.’ Phew.
New topic: One reader picked up on a statement I made in this post. Did you catch it as well?
Here is the scoop: I headed into downtown Providence to take part in a Dunkin Donuts Iced Coffee commercial. It was freezing cold outside and I have no idea if I will actually be in the commercial but is was fun nonetheless and I can now cross ‘Auditioning for a commercial/Being in a TV commerical’ off my bucket list.
Heather Davis says
This is pretty much me every day! Don’t sweat it we’re all human and sometimes it just gets too much. Good luck with the house sale and keep taking those breaths!
patsy says
Oh, that so could have been me on any given day… lately it would be related to the fact that neither of my boys like to go run errands on the weekend. I had to remind them that Dad and I work during the week, it’s not like we are sitting at home doing nothing all day while they are at school… so, when do they think we are going to buy food or shop for their new shoes? Yes, we have all been there!
Anne-Marie @ This Mama Cooks! says
Jennifer, I feel your pain. I too am resentful of all the time cleaning up after my family instead of spending quality fun time with them. I’m tired of my car looking like something out of Sanford & Son. And I’m tired of my bedroom looking like a dry cleaning shop after a tornado.
I SOOOO get it. And love you all the more for expressing it on your blog. XOXOXO
fooddreamer says
Oh, yeah, been there, done that. Just this morning, in fact, when children who’d been told at least 4 times to get dressed and ready to go were goofing around and playing instead. ACK! You deserved the meltdown, and you certainly didn’t need to apologize for it!
Hope you’re in the commercial!
Cindy says
My house was just on the market for quite a while. Pace yourself. I read somewhere once that people decide whether or not they’re going to make an offer within the first 30 seconds. I ignored everything inside cabinets,etc. We got a POD and threw a major amount of clutter into it. Good luck! May many offers come your way in the first two weeks.
Nutmeg Nanny says
I don’t even have kids and I freak out like you did. We all have those moments. I like to think of them as therapeutic 🙂
As far as the Dunkin’ Donuts thing….awesome!
Kelly says
You mean that’s not a daily occurrence in your house? Clearly you are the zen master mama who can take way more than I can.
We all do this sometimes-it’s called life. The great thing though? Your kids got to see how stressed you are, and see you do something you later felt badly for-and apologize. They have their freakout moments too-so you just showed them how to handle it when you screw up. That is a great life lesson.
When we were selling our house we had a system-everyone picked up their stuff in the morning, at bedtime and whenever we had a showing. Then we all went out for treats.
Katrina says
What a great, so-true post. We sold a house and moved last summer and I hear every word you’re saying! Exhausting!
Best of luck to you selling your house. Ours sold in 7 days (by the grace of God)!
Tricia (Once A Month Mom) says
We might be the same person! 🙂 Or should I put a 🙁 Getting a house ready to put on the market is completely counter to raising kids. I totally feel ya. Excuse me why I go ignore the laundry some more. 🙂