A few weeks ago, on a peaceful quiet Saturday night I had some time to myself. My Mom (Danielle) had The Dictator for the night under the assumption that I was going to an adult birthday party, which I fully intended to go to until a massive freak spring snowstorm hit. No way was I driving to a different town on those roads so I ended up staying home in an empty house until midnight when Stewart came home from work.
What did I do with the 7 hours alone? Pedicure, bubble bath or do my hair? Watch a chick flick? Read? Nope. I caught up on all that stuff that never gets done all at once around the house. I cleaned bathrooms, washed floors, vacuumed (even though that is Stewart’s job), prepped a nice dinner for the night, emptied the dishwasher, ironed all the laundry, washed and put away 3 loads of clothing and bathed the dog. It was a productive night for me, and usually things never get done in bulk like that around the house. Like any mom I get what I can done during The Dictator’s nap and sneak 45 minutes to myself – but that means there is always a list to tackle and that I never feel finished.
The best part of getting all this stuff done is that for almost a full week I felt caught up. I lost that clusterfucked feeling that I tend to get when I see a full dishwasher and the dryer is buzzing at the end of the cycle. I had the mental capacity to prepare decent meals every night that week because I wasn’t running around during nap time trying to make the house presentable; naptime was a chance for me to prep a great dinner and start some of the cooking. I played with The Dictator more because I wasn’t trying to sneak 5 minutes to fold laundry and empty the dishwasher. These little things really changed how I felt about my day and how my day would inevitably go.
This last week the clusterfucked feeling has returned. I have no desire to cook and I feel like I am not caught up again. That brought me to thinking that if I had help one morning a week (not relying on the Grandparents for this one – they help me so I can work 2 days a week when Stewart can’t be at home) I would feel more in control and caught up around the house. I thought of hiring a maid service – but really that could run us $500 a month and to me I would rather put that money into our mortgage payments.
Enter Bonnie
Bonnie is a 14 year old darling girl who adores The Dictator and loves to babysit. She lives by us and has siblings that are much younger then her, so she is great with little kids. Bonnie even stops over some evenings to play with Emmett after dinner, and she wears him out chasing him around the yard. I watch her pick him up when he falls, hug him when he is upset and steer him away from danger (which is his middle name). I adore her and her family – they are really great.
I really have no need for a babysitter and quite honestly I don’t like leaving The Dictator with anyone other then the grandparents. BUT, I sure could use a Mother’s Helper one morning a week from 9am to 1pm while I get all that stuff done around the house and get a dinner started. So this week I am going to see if Bonnie is interested in helping out with The Dictator one morning a week (during the summer break -and maybe a weekend day in the winter) while I am at home getting caught up around the house.
This could be my sanity saver and make me a better mom too.
$25 for your sanity and some time alone is PEANUTS! Here’s to sanity! *clink*
THAT is a brilliant idea. And here, I was thinking about having the house professionally clean once/twice a month… But that’s way more expensive.
I think that is an awesome idea…you’re lucky to have a Bonnie around who loves to play with your child, and more importantly, sounds like he loves her. Nothing wrong at all with a mother’s helper.
My friend has 2 kids, 2 cats, and a baby on the way next week… she has a cleaning lady come in THREE TIMES A WEEK and she still feels overwhelmed.
Hope Bonnie will help out!
For $25??? DO IT! No questions asked! It’ll be GOOD for you AND the Dictator (because mommy will be more SANE!)
That’s a great idea. As a teen, I had a couple of families I babysat for every week – one evening for date night for one family, and a couple of hours after school on day for another so the mother had a bit of time to do stuff like that.
I’ve been seriously thinking of doing the same. I can’t get much done around here with two little crazios.