Tag: housework

Categories
3 years and beyond University Study

Outside v’s inside work

Why is it that as a mother you have to look after kids and still try and get the housework done? The husband gets space to do outdoors work (and other things); with a little help from the girls he basically got time to get it all done. I know both jobs are not fun and a lot of work, however it is very hard to get the house tidy with two little people wanting you to spend time with them, play with them, cuddle them and you get the idea.

I managed yesterday to get the bathroom clean, but this was only due to me putting the kids in their room for enforced quiet time. Not really quiet time, however it is time that mummy can do things without two kids under foot.  Other than the bathroom, the kitchen got a little tidier and so did the living room. Other than those rooms, not much got done.

At lunch time today we are expecting the girl’s great aunt and her girlfriend for lunch, so I am working away at finalising the house. I have tidied our room and added fresh sheets to the bed; I have put more clothes in the washing machine (need to put clothes on the line), tidied up the living room yet again, the hallway and off to do the dining room and kitchen for finishing touches.

While I am doing all this my husband is at the computer figuring out an issue with his email. I did ask that he get up and help, however his view was that he is tired from yesterday. He did do a lot of yard work and the entire front yard. Not only did he cut and prune trees and shrubs, he mowed as well. It does look great, and I can imagine that his body is a bit sore and tired.  Although I think that as his relative is coming that maybe he might help with the inside? Is this too much to ask? I really don’t think so. So I thought why not update the blog if other people are at the computer as well.

I also find it incredible that even on holidays I am the one that is mainly looking after the girls. I have told him that this weekend and Monday I need to focus on my assignment for university. I have no choice as it is due by midnight Monday evening.  So after lunch time today and family time tomorrow, he is looking after the kids.

The girls do get involved in some tasks to help, putting their shoes in their room, helping putting away groceries, they have cleaned their room although this was just them putting all their toys on the shelves,  wiping down tables however the use of the spray is way to much, putting away toys in the toy box, and some other things. I find that it is hard to get these things done, although I am trying to involve the girls so that they are learning to put things away also.

Do you have any tips or tricks for getting housework and other things done with kids? What do you do? Some ladies I spoke to said that they don’t bother if the kids are around, I do try but nothing seems to ever get completed. Why do you as a woman get criticised for not completing the inside when you had other things to care for, namely two children.   I would like on this Easter break to finally get help with cleaning the windows, and time to do some other things, maybe my sewing?  One can only hope. Send in your ideas for doing chores/housework and other tasks with kids around.

Categories
3 years and beyond

Cleaning or study? Dilemma to fit it all in

If only I could clone myself, this way my other copies can do the cleaning and other chores while I enjoy doing things I like to do. I know this is a fantasy but it is a great idea, maybe in the future this might be so.

I am looking around at a messy house again, not feeling the best and deep down knowing that I still need to do university work as well. I think it will be a cleaning day tomorrow as I can get more done, then maybe I can sit down to do university without the thought that the house is a mess. Easter holidays are around the corner and would like to get the place sorted out before this happens.

Housework is not my lot in life; I don’t aspire to have a sparkling home, although I would like it to be neat, clean, tidy and easy to find things. Currently it is a bit of a shambles.  This is nothing that cleaning on my own will not fix. Having little people around to either mess things up or make it impossible to get anything done. It was so much easier without kids; you could power through and have no interruptions.

It is sad that you seem to never get all things done in the time allotted, or maybe I am just bad at this mum time management. When working I got all tasks completed on my to do list; now it is a whole other story.  I must say that maybe it is me procrastinating by cleaning, but I must say that both needs to be done and cleaning without kids around is preferable.

I still think if I had robots, or clones to do the work that would be a great help, I know not available currently. Do you have help at your house for the day to day, or is it just you?  This week I am going to power through the cleaning, the study and get heaps done, maybe powered by coffee. What are you going to achieve this week? Send in your comments.

Categories
3 years and beyond

Tired and naughty seem to go together

Do you find that on the days that kids are elsewhere, in school, being looked after by family or at friends, that you want to achieve so much. I find that I have many things that would like to do, but realise that my day is short. This is due to dropping kids off and picking them up and the realisation that I don’t have a full day, only the time between 9.15am and 2.45pm. This is a small window but a great moment to have the time to be by yourself and get some things done.

These things that I would like to get done is the following: Sewing, cleaning, tiding, university study, watching scary shows that I like but the kids would not, shopping for food as it is easier without kids, appointments if needed, exercising, catching up on missed sleep, and probably more should be on the list that I have not listed.

So yesterday as mentioned I managed to do some housework, go off for something for me (Yippeee) and also iron some shirts. Then just in time to get back in the car to pick up my lovely girls, although this lovely moment is short lived due to the lovely girls changing into naughty creatures, when I am reunited with the girls it is like they are just jumping off the walls, not listening and this makes me get very annoyed. They seem to have hit the naughty button and are firing on all cylinders.

I thought I was just over reacting about this change in events. I mentioned my thoughts to some friends on facebook, friends at playgroup and family. The consensus is that the child/children are relaxing by being at home and showing you their true self, this is also is not helped by being tired from a day full of school and action.

It is so hard to deal with the girls after school, I am saying NO! so much, making sure that they listen when I say NO, as they think it is all fun and games. I have had to take away chairs, carry little people out of rooms and take things away from them. Threaten an early bed time, tell them that we will finish the milk in the room while I read stories rather than watching the end of their favourite good night television show. Oh, how this is draining and stressful.

If you say don’t get another busicut they take matters in their own hands. Both girls work together, getting a chair, and making sure that it goes to the right spot, then one gets on the chair and hands the goods to the other. You get the idea. Very clever, but naughty.

Currently we live in a smallish house so no room to separate the girls, so the fact that they have each other keeps the action happening. I have also tried to separate them recently again when they were being very naughty and it did not work. I put Lillian in the lounge room and she managed to get out of the door, While Julia was working herself into a terrible mess for hours. I ended up letting Lillian back into the bedroom and Julia was hugging and kissing her. There is such a connection, Julia was pinning for Lillian and it goes the other way as well. On the whole they are good kids, I just feel that they get too revved up and it is hard to calm them down.

I do see that the girls are exhausted, so try and do things quietly, however that backfires when they run at such a pace all around the house and the yard. Today we were not in school, but had playgroup instead. They were all over the shop and I am very happy and like the fact that they are now sleeping. They did have a fun day, playing with toys and in the sandpit, just so active.

Do you find it difficult after you pick kids up from school? Are you counting the hours or minutes until you can put them to bed? What are your secrets for having a great time before kids go to bed? Do you have some great ideas – send them our way so we can all learn.  I am now off to sleep as I have had a very long day.

Categories
3 years and beyond

No Boys

I have been asking the girls how their days at school were and who did they play with? The girls listed some of the kids at school, girls and boys and I said it sounds like they had heaps of friends to play with, this comment was met with “We don’t play with the boys mummy”. I thought that this was a bit sad, but obviously a phase. Maybe it is boys germs. I remember I did not like boys for a while either, although my best friend at school was a boy. I must have just not liked certain boys.

This got me thinking why little girls decide that boys are not worthy of friends or playing with.  Is it the bigger kids that help form this opinion? Is it just the fact that they feel more comfortable with other girls? This cannot be entirely correct as the girls love the boys next door and really enjoy playing with them.

I think it is nice that the girls are developing a network of friends and playmates at their new school, I am just curious about this phase of disliking boys. Is this in built into girls and boys. Do boys suddenly say they don’t want to have anything to do with girls. Yuck girls germs and so on.   Is it peer pressure or socialisation that causes this phase? Or is it just a matter of being a little girl and figuring out how things work, a right of passage in friendship and figuring out the genders.

I was a tom boy as a kid and still sort of am. I do get dressed up and wear dresses but not all the time, and actually rather prefer pants and jeans. I do like getting glammed up, however as I stay at home mummy looking after the girls there is not much need to get all dolled up to go to drop kids at school/shops. I did like getting dressed up for the office and meetings, however there is none of that in my current world.  The girls seem to be girly girls, which is great and fine, however I am constantly looking for something pretty for each child to wear. I hand them something practical like a t-shirt, or long sleeve top and it gets handed back with the words, “That is not pretty mummy!!!”  The girls do get dressed up for special occasions and parties however if they are just going to get dirty and play, why not be in comfy and practical clothing.

This line of difference is very obvious in the toy section of any department store or shop. In the section supposedly for girls it is wall to wall pink, dolls, babies and all things that will have little girls trapped in the kitchen or the house. The section for boys is much more interesting, building blocks, science and other games that use the mind and don’t trap the person into housework chores.   As you might have guessed I have not purchased any of those things for the girls. They do have dolls and some stuffed toys as dolls. However they don’t have a kitchen/sinks/vacuum cleaner/broom and brush. We have given the girls a mixture of toys, building blocks, planes, trucks, cars, prams, doctor kit and so on. They have girly toys if they have to be labelled as such and they have other toys that will help develop other areas of their brain and interests.

Currently I am very curious about why girls go through this hating boys. I know I did it and thought that they were just silly. I used to scare the boys off by saying that I would kiss them. This worked as they did not want girls germs, until the boys decided that they now liked girls, then I ran away.  This is the other concern that we will have to worry about. When boys like the girls. This is a long time off, say 10 years from now, so we have plenty of time until that happens.

Have you as a parent been curious of this development in your child? I know it is all normal, however still curious about why it happens.  I have looked online and only found information about toys, gender and other things. Nothing is addressing my question. I will keep on looking, and if I see anything that is helpful, I will post it here. If you find anything that might help send it my way.

This is an interesting article: Gifted Girls – Many Gifted Girls, Few Eminent Women: Why?

Categories
3 years and beyond

Headache go away

Today was the day kids were at school and I wanted to get heaps done. I wish my body would have been up to speed with my plan, have had a nasty headache all day. Have taken pills but to no avail. While at home, I managed to tidy up the lounge room, kids room and our room. Did a couple of loads of laundry and changed our sheets. Girls sheets were done yesterday or Saturday, feels so far away now, but they were done on the weekend at some point.

I thought about going for a sleep, however I am that tired that I thought I would sleep through pick up for the girls, so did not do that. I watched some of my shows and then finished some things off and had to pick the girls up. Since getting the girls from school it has made my head ten times worse. The girls are little trouble makers. Running out to get in the paddle pool, taking off and not coming when called, not eating all their food, playing and not having dinner, ignoring me, being violent to each other, hitting, biting, and just plain terrible. Both girls are finally in their bedroom playing waiting for daddy to come home to say hello before we have dinner.

I did plan to have more done so that I can maximise my time tomorrow. I think I will hope that I feel better tomorrow and get stuck into something I want to do. Even as I speak the girls are screaming, crying and yelling at each other. I fear that they are over tired and they are just going to be terrible before they finally pass out. I did go in and see who was hurt due to high pitched screaming before, Lillian was bitten by Julia due to Julia not getting her way at the tea party. OHHhhhhhhh gosh, I am so over this. I just want to have dinner and go to bed.

Thinking about dinner, I feel that I should go and get dinner made, eat it, and go off to bed. Maybe an early night will help things.  I will put James’ dinner in the microwave.

Hope your day was better than mine.

 

Categories
3 years and beyond Pre-School

Valentines day and day 2 of pre-school

Happy Valentines Day everyone. I hope you have a nice day whatever you end up doing. This morning it was a saga getting the girls organised for day 2 of school, well actually it was hard with Julia especially. She decided that she did not want to go to school, she wanted to stay home. Everything ended up being an issue. Cuddle me, carry me, no I don’t want that shoe, Lillian has my clip and just heaps of crying and whinging. She fell on the floor and just made the whole getting ready 10 times harder.

I managed to sort it out, calmed her down a bit, put shoes on her, brushed her hair, gave her a clip and she put it in her hair. Finally we were all in the car and off to school. Phew!  However Julia had cried so much that her face was red and spotty. I hope that she looks happier when we get there. I don’t want the school to think that she needs to come home. Today I am busy cleaning up the house as we have a babysitter for tonight, as James and I are going out for dinner. Really looking forward to it.

I am looking forward to wearing my new skirt and dressing up a bit for a night out without kids. Just relaxing thinking about that. Oh well, must be off to start the tidying up process.

Let me know how your Valentines goes? Did you get romanced? Get some time out? Or just had a great day with the family?

 

Update: We ended up going out for a very nice dinner. The girls were happy with their babysitter and played, doctors, tea parties, hairdressers, watched some tv, had some food and milk and went to bed. Lillian’s hair was braided when I woke up and it looks so lovely. Must learn how to do that.