This is the time that I love. It’s one of my 2 days a week off, and the boys have left the house, and I cleaned up the kitchen and started a load of laundry. I have a good list of things to accomplish today, but before I even take a shower, I sit down to relish the peace and quiet.
(Pause to scream at unruly animals.)
I no longer have A Room of My Own. The office setup is now well ensconced in my new armoire, stationed in what I think of as “Mom’s Corner.” It’s going to take some getting used to. Whenever I pass by the “baby’s room” I have an internal urge to swing in there to check my email.
His room still looks like a guest room. The only baby thing in it is the changing table/dresser, and a pile of gifts from Sunday. Incidentally, two of my friends gave me the gdiapers starter kits, which I am so excited about. Stewart remains skeptical. He thinks the mess will clog the toilets. I at least want to try. I’ll wait until I know they work before I get any more.
Speaking of gDiapers, my friend S. is planning on trying them as well. As far as I know she has not yet gone into labor. If you are following along, this is the same friend who was experiencing contractions last week. Well, she actually made it to the shower on Sunday, with her husband in tow as her “just in case I go into labor” escort. She is one in a list of 5 women I know, including myself, who are pregnant. That’s half the number of pregnant women I was among last time. In my virtual world, I think Mama Waterhouse is having or has had her baby. I keep checking for updates but she hasn’t blogged in 4 days so I think it’s happening.
When I was pregnant with Kyle I had a seemingly endless string of days to fill in the 2 months before he was born. I stopped working on February 4th and he was born April 10. Luckily, I had the home remodel project which kept me very busy. This time, I have the home declutter project which keeps me busy but weighs upon me with its dreadfulness. I feel like I am always decluttering, and as soon as I move some things out of here, others come to take their places. I watched an episode of Oprah the other night, in which the guest was some guy from Clean Sweep, and he helped a couple clear out their incredibly ridiculously cluttered house (they have 4 kids and were DROWNING in stuff). I learned 2 things from him: things are just things. If you are keeping something because of an emotional attachment and it’s filling up your space, you can get rid of it and still have the fond memory that you associate with it. Also, when you are going through your clutter and deciding to keep, toss, or donate, if you hesitate on your decision on an item for even one second, then you must get rid of it.
So, slowly but surely I am moving through our clutter, making room for the baby and the clutter that will accompany him. Having these days off with Kyle out of the house makes it so much easier, plus it puts pressure on me to get certain things done by the time I have to pick him up. I work in the baby’s room and in the hallway where the closets are in silence. I had planned to rock out to my remaining 80’s mixes on cassette, and then toss those as I listen to each one. But the quiet is so precious that I haven’t yet been moved to pull out the boom box!
***Updated to add:
Kate Waterhouse had her baby over the weekend! Go over and wish her some congratulations!!
***Updated again to add:
S. just called me a few minutes ago from the hospital! She went in for an OB checkup and had a contraction in the elevator, so two nurses “manhandled” her to Labor and Delivery instead. She’s happily hooked up to monitors and waiting for her labor to progress. !!!!!
Mama Waterhouse had her baby…see blog!
Watching Clean Sweep always gives me an urge to declutter. I hope I never turn into that! I’ve decided those people must just take all the years of accumulated crap that they’ve kept stored and hidden and throw it all into one room just so they can qualify for the the show, because how could they live like that?
After you throw out all the cassettes, are you going to throw out the cassette player?
Oh, I feel so special! Two mentions in the blog and even one in the comments! Warm fuzzies…
You should subscribe to FlyLady. I get a daily encouragement e-mail digest and ideas for how to declutter and not feel overwhelmed. I’ve been getting them for 2 years now and don’t read every single one every day, but it has helped tremendously. Just go to FlyLady.net or the link on my blog.
Those diapers are beautiful! I’d not heard of them before. I hate cluter. My hubby is a pack-rat. I am a thrower-awayer.
I’ve used gDiapers as part of our night time routine and your husband is half right. If you stick them in there and flush right away, you’re going to have a clog. If you stick them in, give them a swish and then wait a wee bit, they go down with ease.
They also happen to be compostable.
You’re welcome.
I need to remember those tips you mentioned in the clean sweep. ESP. the one about hestitating about whether to keep/toss/donate. Usually when I hesitate I think it must mean I should keep it – I need to reverse that thinking!
Kelli,
I actually put that one to use yesterday when paring down my office supplies. I had a collection of post-it pads, notepads from hotels and realtors, etc. LOTS of them. I finally just kept one of each category, then recycled the rest. After all, if I’ve had them all these years, obviously I never used them.