Home now.... didn't get to the art gallery because Verity was too tired after being with DH all morning (although they both really enjoyed the time together)... but it was still good to get out...and some of you know how much Wade loooves playing at that Thomas The Tank Engine table in Myer hey
IK: thanks, you made a lot of really good points but the main issue with the cleaning up around here is that I need blocks of time to do stuff that a cleaner couldn't do. Our paperwork (filing bills and statements) and putting away clutter. Stuff that gets brought into the house and/or just needs putting away is our biggest issue. I actually do manage to keep most surfaces clean (which is really all a cleaner can do) so when I get my mum's assistant she'll be keeping an eye on the kids while I tackle the filing etc. DH and I just never seem to find time to do it. He pushes paper all day in the office so the last thing he wants to do when he gets home or on the weekend is more filing... we have about 10 years of "papers" that has just been shoved in Reflex boxes that desperately needs sorting. Before we got the digital camera we accumulated about 10 years of photos that still need putting into albums! This kinda stuff... cleaners can't do this and it's really really getting me down. None of it's desperately urgent... we manage to pay all our bills on time, that's no problem, it's just doing the paperwork afterwards. The thing is if I was to say, tackle the photos right now, Verity and Wade would want to get involved and before I know it the whole process has either come to a standstill because I have to answer a million questions about the pictures or else Verity will try to start organising me or saying "no! I look awful in that photo... don't put it in the album!" etc.... I just want to be LEFT ALONE to do the job... and that's only about 1 issue... there's other stuff that needs sorting like all my artwork/creative writing etc that's cluttering up the house and needs time to be dealt with. *sigh* so it's head space i need... I just never seem to get it... so a Mother's Assitant it will have to be... she can take them to the park and i'll be able to get on with it... and because I'm paying her I won't be tempted to dawdle over the task either.
back in a tic...
back: DH is actually quite domesticated despite his upbringing. He cooked all the meals over the long weekend, for example. He also tends to do the washing on the weekends and cleans the kitchen to perfection. But like your DP IK, he somehow can't wrap his brain around putting away general clutter and definately has a strong aversion to filing. Oh, he also loves doing the vacuuming and makes a good effort to clean the toilets every so often. I can't really complain about him... but like I keep saying: he does kinda think that because I am at home I should be able to do stuff like the photos and filing... but he doesn't understand how much the kids get in the way, even just the sound of them arguing puts me off. For example. I need to read and ring around a few utilites companies because i'm not happy with TRU energy... so i have all this literature that I want to be able to read and digest... then I want to be able to ring the companies to compare deals etc... but this isn't possible with kids in the house.... I've HAD to do it before when we have moved house... and it's just too frustrationg and mistakes are made and I'm so sick of trying to explain to the call-centre person that the screaming in the background is not an axe murderer... it's just my baby exercising his lungs! LOL
Ok... thanks all for indulging me in yet another rant... here's me emailing DH that mother's assistant Job Descrption.
Bath - I love reading a good rant lol!!! It feels good to get it out. I totally understand where you are coming from. My DH was bought up not expected to do a thing (maybe why his 42 year old brother still lives at home!). His mum did everything, even colour coded his clothes in their drawers. My upbringing was totally different. My parents both worked alot so my brother and I were expected to do lots of housework and when was youngest brother was born (I was 12), I virtually raised him and did cooking, cleaning etc all the time, sometimes I get a bit anal over cleaning! So when DH and I got together, he was in for a bit of a shock. I expected him to pull his weight too and it took a while but he eventually learned how to iron, vacum etc. As he is a shift worker, he is home alot in the morning. He is very good at helping out, but he doesn't do things the same way as me. I am bit of a control freak that way but at least he helps. He does more around the garden and outside maintenance than I do, but I don't mind it that way. I have many friends whose DH's do absolutely nothing, so I think myself lucky sometimes. The filing thing must be a man thing. I pay the bills and I usually file them after, but if I don't, DH will put them back in the cupboard with the bills yet to be paid! I go looking for them and can't find them. Drives me mad. Once you get these nagging jobs done, you will feel fantastic and relieved to get them out of the way. And if you can get a few uninterupted hours of doing it, I might not take that long. BTW, my house in far from perfect (wish it was) LOL!!!! Glad you got to get out today, and I had to laugh at Wade and the Thomas set at Myer (his favourite!!!)
IK - glad to hear you are back in the land of the living. Did your mum do some housework for you? I love it when they criticise but don't bother to help.
What another beautiful day today and it looks like staying this way for the rest of the week. Took the girls to the playground after lunch. We have a school nearby which has a fantastic playground and its not too far for Chelsea to walk to. Marley just sat in her pram eating her vegimite sandwich!
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