Day 2: Tired

I'm tired. My mother-in-law came to visit today with my sister-in-law and her two kids. Because it has been so cold, this visit has been the highlight of my pathetic week. My mother-in-law (Pam) was more than ready to see our little baby girl because her last visit was just 4 days after she was born. Pam walked right in and took Alivia out of my arms and didn't put her down until she left.

In preparation for Pam's visit, I intended to bathe all three kids, actually doll myself up, wash the dishes, put away the mountains of laundry I stayed up until 1am this morning folding, and make/help my kids clean their rooms. This is what my mind came up with as I laid in my bed this morning trying to motivate myself to get up. What actually happened was a very different story.

Yes, I successfully bathed all three kids, which really ticked off Alivia, who then insisted that I spend the rest of my morning cradling her in my arms (a demand which folded me like a card table). This created a need for some multitasking in order to get myself dolled up while Lucy and Jack played in the infamous bubble bath, which Jack had requested at least 7 times this morning. With my little angel strapped into her Baby Bjorn I got to work turning myself into a 15 minute master piece. Once that was successfully accomplished I turned my attention to my two monsters still in the tub only to find the bathroom rug completely saturated with a mixture of bath water and what was once toilet paper. This mess I chose to ignore for the time being, it was just much easier to close the bathroom door and forget about it. I quickly washed two little heads and dressed two little bodies, and went down to the kitchen.

Because I was delayed last night by a running dishwasher, I still had all of dinner's dishes to do, and counters to wipe down after they'd been soaking in their own filth over night. I quickly reloaded and started the dishwasher, and then started wiping down the counters. Did you know that fresh garlic has an extremely penetrating smell? Oh, and it turns out, it doesn't evaporate either. Even after 4 Clorox wipes I was still smelling garlic! Thank goodness for my Scentsy! Once the kitchen was in passable condition, I turned around and noticed the small food storage Jack and Lucy had built on the floor under the table, and that the milk was left out. As I put the milk away I discovered that for the third time in as many months, something has gone south in my fridge, and I have no idea where to start. Once again, thank you Scentsy.

It was at this point that I remembered the disaster of what is suppose to be my kids rooms upstairs, and promptly turned my focus to directing the 2 and 4 year olds in cleaning. Talk about a wasted effort, it's like telling a vibration to hold still. Then I whipped out my Bissell Steam and Sweep and started sucking up crumbs. That's when the doorbell rang and I knew I was out of prep time, and it was time to employ my excuse training.

All and all I did quite well. I accomplished most of the items on my to-do list before my mother-in-law arrived. She of course, was all to excited to help me get Shawn's work shirts ironed while I finished putting away the laundry. But at the end of this day I find myself burned out from all the preparation and recovery of guests. I know I'm not alone in this either. Why do I have such a strong need to be social? It's so draining. Honestly though, I should have guests over everyday. Maybe then my house would stay in semi acceptable condition. My problem comes when I realize that I'm too OCD in my guest prep. Today for example, as I was working through my list I realized that my fridge needs to be cleaned out again, my bathrooms need to be cleaned (possibly with a chisel now), my kids rooms need to be completely cleared out and reorganized, my room needs a major over haul, and all my walls on the main level need to be painted. Just thinking about this makes me both tired and poor (because my organization and over haul plans are extravagant). So after a long day, I'm ready to punch the old time card and say goodnight.

BTW, I'm noticing I smell like baby poop, you know, the new born stuff. Not sure where I've been contaminated, but the smell will not go away. Guess I need to shower tonight too before I can punch that old time card.