Right now I am feeling like there isn't enough time. This is not the "May-cember" chaos I read about - I don't feel like school or life is ramping up - I just feel like life *is* ramped. I try to make a list of what I feel needs to be done to feel less behind and I end up with "laundry" and "sort house". Neither of these things is a real thing, because you are never done with laundry, and what does "sort house" even mean? And still, I feel vaguely dissatisfied with many of my home spaces right now.
I am not good at making a home look pretty. I am good at making a home look tidy. Right now, we have too much stuff. We are in a stuff phase of kids, and it shows, but I feel there is just stuff everywhere.
In my little dream head I want to spend 2 days just going through everything in my house and getting rid of things and moving things and putting things away. BUT if was given 2 days to do anything I want there is no way I would want to spend it doing that, because it's really not a great way to spend valuable free time. So, the clutter and chaos persists for now.
Speaking of not enough time - Andy and I went on a out of the house date night! We always go to the same bottle shop and get pizza delivered from the pizza place next door and it's great. We met the owner of this bottle shop on a cross country trip in the USA in 2014.
Because we are still young at heart we rode bikes to our date night. On the ride home I saw a free bike outside someone's house and noticed it was actually a really nice free bike! So we decided to take it home. This was a bit tricky because it's hard to carry a bike home on a bike. Andy made a
good effort.
We ended up dropping the bike off at a friends house, and will come pick it up in the car soon. Also a great way to end a date night - surprise hang out with a friend - he thought scavenging for bikes wat not the typical date. He gave Andy a beer though, and I still had some of my wine left (not pictured, me carrying a half bottle of wine home on the back of my bike), so we had one more drink before heading home.
One of my May goals is to make our outdoor space more fun and appealing. Today I am picking up some more garden things to make the garden more fun and inviting. Last year we had the coldest and wettest April on record. This year we had the hottest April on record. So far, we have. had three days of pleasant May. Fingers crossed outdoor life continues!
Do you feel may-cember? Do you ever feel mildly unsatisfied with spaces in your home, or is there one space that gives you more trouble than the rest?
I love date night on a bike! Scavenging for bikes should be a typical date night activity.
ReplyDeleteMy home is a solid meh. It's fairly large, but the space is not well used. So why am I complaining on the internet instead of doing something about it? Because the other three members of the house are just fine with things as they are.
I feel like tidy goes a long way toward making a space pretty, so you're on the right track. For all of my dissatisfaction with my home, 10 years ago it was the same thing but overrun with legos and other kid paraphernalia. Now at least we're out of the Toys Everywhere stage.
Your date night sounds so fun! I had never heard the term "bottle shop" before and had to look it up.
ReplyDeleteYES to the May-cember chaos. Mayhem May. I am already feeling it picking up speed.
YES to feeling dissatisfied with home spaces. It feels like a never-ending quest. We are in a weird liminal space right now as we switch out furniture in our living room -- we still have all the old stuff and don't quite have all the new stuff, so there are boxes and lamps everywhere. I am ready for things to feel Complete. But that may be an idyllic state that doesn't exist.
Thank you for the comment! we are hoping to switch our living room when the toddlers stop snotting on everything and it's helpful for me to remember it's not going to be a perfect switch into perfect living room. I hope you get out of boxes and lamps stage soon.
DeleteI realized "Bottle shop" can mean a few things things, but this one is a shop that sells beer and wine but also has tables and a few taps so you can drink a glass or a single beer as well. :-)
Love the rescued bike! One less thing for the landfill. Gold stars.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty happy with our house now. It's never going to be grand and we have so many scuffs on the walls, a bathroom in the basement that really does look like something out of a horror movie, and plenty of remaining things that scream 1970s, but it's safe and after years of renos I'm mostly just happy to not feel the urge to fix anything at the moment. There are lots of things I'd love to have done if I could snap my fingers and have it all planned and paid for, but that's not about to happen so I think we'll wait at least another year before we do any other minor upgrades.
I agree with Birchie that tidying really does make a huge difference and it's kinda impossible at this stage in parenting. Sorry to break it to you. But it's just a state of constant disarray unless you want to spend all your spare time tidying. IT GETS easier in so many ways. Including easier to keep things tidy and have your kids do more work toward achieving that goal. There will be a day when you kids can do their own laundry and it's amazing!
Your house always looks sooo lovely! I think the lack of productive tidying is what's driving me nuts, I can spend all day tidying and have everything look the same (or worse) in 24 hours. I think it's harder without the little ones in Nursery because there is no quiet time at all! I am glad to hear it gets better. My bigger kids recently started clearing up their own plates after dinner (ie putting them in the sink) so we are getting somewhere...
DeleteI second the tidying idea. I do a little every night, with the kids along side me. They are my sidekicks.
DeleteFree bike!!! How can you say no to that? I love your date night; it sounds perfect to me! Also I want to come over and declutter with you. Now that I'm done doing it all at the same time (huge pain) I remember that I actually enjoy organizing and sorting and decluttering, especially when it's non emotional things like clothes and stuff. I have more trouble when it's a gift, or something expensive, but I am brutal when it comes to clothing not worn anymore. Do you have any of that??
ReplyDeleteIt was a great date night! And yes please do declutter with me! I am actually really good at decluttering clothes for myself since we have such a small area for clothing storage - I'm almost too good at it (If I ever end up in an office again I'll have nothing to wear). However, slightly useful kitchen stuff and toys and life stuff I am the *worst* for decluttering. Perhaps I'll make a blog post of my most cluttered spaces and that might motivate me to improve my life?
DeleteGifts I can go either way with, if I've had something for a while I have trouble getting rid of it, but I'm very good at donating gifts within a few weeks of receiving them so that I don't build up emotional attachments haha.
Yep, I feel you on the house thing.. I am often frustrated with the clutter and lack of "homes" for things, especially things I don't want the kids getting into or seeing. But it always seems like there is something else we need, mostly because the kids keep growing.
ReplyDeleteThank you Katie! I feel I would sell my soul for a closet sometimes... British houses are not made for growing and changing families. The clothing storage also gets harder as they get bigger because the clothes are bigger... it's an ongoing struggle.
DeleteA date on bikes is amazing! Question- who is staying with your kids when you go out? Does Andy's family live close by?.. Luckyyyyyy!!!
ReplyDeleteMay-sember is a little bit of an issue right now but not a lot. Maintly, at work. We are wrapping up the year, I wanted to read a novel with my Spanish 3 honors classes and that is a WHOOOOLE new unit that I am creating as we go along and pretty much flying by the seat of my pants. BUT. I'm glad I am doing it. After a year of reading Gongora, Quevedo and Neruda, these kids are reading a book by an author who is 1. female and b. still alive.
House... It rarely happens that my house is messy since it is one of the things that positively contributes to my mental health. And my family knows it. The kids have chores (laughable - "pick up the living room" or "put your toys into the bins" or "water plants"= we have three plants). At the moment, however, the floor has seeds on it - especially the floor in the hallway. I mean, trees are flowering like crazy and we bring the seeds on our shoes. But we take the shoes off.
In terms of stuff... My chest of drawers is a little full right now since I have to pack my sweaters away. And, when the kids are not around I tend to put away toys that haven't been touched for a while. They never remember.
Good question! The bartender asked the same thing haha. My mom lives here half the year (as in, 6 weeks on and 6 weeks off) so she can babysit in the evenings. We don't usually go out until after the kids are in bed but it's so nice to leave the house together.
DeleteWell done on adding female authors to the reading list at your school! And alive too of course
I think that part of the reason my house feels so full is the 18 month olds. You give me hope that this is a stuff phase and I can and will declutter soon. Thankfully we don't have seeds in the house now - but I imagine this is the most wonderful season in NJ so it's probably a small price to pay for lovely surroundings.