Domestic Goddessing Sanity-Savers

Domestic goddessing can be a drag sometimes.  It can be mundane, crazy, fabulous and terrifying all in one day.  Here are my top 5 sanity savers:

1.  Boxed Wine.  I keep a box of wine in the pantry so that I can have a glass in the evenings.  Don't be snooty- they make very good boxed wine these days and it will save you from wasting a whole bottle when you just want  a glass or two.  My faves are California Black Box, Pepperwood Grove and Bota Box.

2.  Party Music.  I keep a fun playlist of music on my I-Pod for when I'm cleaning.  It pumps me up, I get things done faster and it inevitably turns into a dance party for me and my son.  Oh- and I try to listen to kid music as little as possible.

3.  Synchronized Nap Time.  It doesn't always happen, but I work all morning for it.  Just an hour and a half to read, enjoy a cup of tea, call my sister  or enjoy silence.  Beautiful silence.

4.  Mommy Exchange.  I'm blessed to have always lived by amazing fellow stay-at-home-mommies. We trade baby-sitting once a week.  My son gets to play with buddies, and I get to run errands without his helpful assistance. 

5.  Tony Horton's 10-Minute-Trainer.  It's a hard workout- but it's short and that's all about this mommy is going to get of uninterrupted time.  I exercise during my baby's morning nap, and my son knows to play independently or  his hiney will be marched to his room.

Mr. Helpful

    

Dream Home and Discontent

One year ago my husband had 2 days to move to a different city and start a new job.  Since that threw us into a tailspin of decisions, we opted to rent a small house in the city until we are settled here and know where we want to live.  So, here I am, a stay-at-home-Mom in a very tiny house....day after day...4 people sharing a bathroom the size of a postage stamp.  Don't even get me started on my closet for I might weep.  Eventually, we will buy a home with some land and we won't be crashing into each other all day.

Eventually.

I caught myself grumbling about it and immediately felt terrible. This isn't the first time I've been here. I know what it's like to spend years wishing for something bigger and better.  My family spent 18 years saving and planning for the "dream home"  while living in a small house that we outgrew.  I look back on my childhood, and we were always looking and praying for the perfect dream home and growing increasingly unsatisfied where we were.  I wish it wasn't like that.  I loved my childhood in our little house in the country with the occasional coon that ran amuck in the closet.  (Really, it did.  And it bit my Dad.  And I think Mom threatened to sue someone, but I'm not sure who was responsible for the rouge critter.)

I made a deal with myself that I wouldn't waste this time in our home grumbling and pouting.  Nope, I'm going to organize, rearrange, down-size and enjoy it, even when my kitchen-the-size-of-a-closet starts to get me down. 

We're making memories here- important memories.  I was 31 months pregnant in this house.  We brought our baby girl home in this house.  We learned to be a family of four in this house.   All of our family have come to visit and love on our babies. I learned how to take apart a dishwasher in this house.

Who knows, I might get my big, fancy house and miss how crowded it is here.  I might miss only having to clean one bathroom.  I might miss how our 3 bedrooms are crammed right next to each other and somehow my children are both in bed with us in the morning.  Heck, I might even miss how one person is always doing the bathroom dance while yelling at the door, "ARE YOU DONE IN THERE YET?!"

I'll wage a war on my discontent, because we're a family and that's enough.  I won't miss this time with them wishing I was somewhere bigger and better.  They are my bigger and better.