Skip to main content

Slowly Going Mad... Or My House Is SO Messy and Noisy I Don't Know What To Do!

*I realize that this post is very poorly written.  I also want to say that while this post is very negative, I do realize how very, very blessed I am.  These are definitely "first world problems".  I am thankful for my husband, my son, my foster daughters, my house, and my overwhelming abundance of material possessions.  I am just having a hard time keeping up with the house, and adjusting to having older children.  Most people grow into having a 10 year old, they don't just get one randomly.  I don't know what to expect, I don't know what to require, and I don't really know how to entertain them without them making huge messes, which I cannot handle at this point in my life, or sticking them in front of a screen a lot, which I refuse to do.*

I am NOT a neat person.  But I don't worry to much about it (other than trying to never have people over so I can pretend I am a good housekeeper) because inevitably, when it is time for the items to be cleaned up, I will be the one doing it.  I am not expecting anyone to clean up after me.  I literally don't think about cleaning up after myself.  I make dinner and leave it all over the counter to clean up when I do dishes.  I leave my clothes on the floor to clean up when I clean whatever room I happen to be disrobing in.  For some reason, it just doesn't cross my mind to do it right away.

The girls are driving me crazy.  They are good kids, but they leave their junk everywhere.  By junk I don't just mean toys and clothes, I mean garbage.  Like playing cards with half the cards missing, or scraps of paper they doodled on.  They don't have many of their own toys, but I was letting them play with mine (my mom gave me most of my sisters' and my old toys).  Until they were leaving them all over the floor to get stepped on and broken.  Or leaving them outside in the rain.  So now they have pretty much nothing to do.

I won't let them treat my toys like garbage, and I won't buy them new stuff until they show me they can take care of my stuff, and the few things they do have.  We are attempting to make it easier by putting all three of them in one bedroom, so we can have a reading room, and a play room.  But it takes time to move everything and buy shelves, furniture, etc.

I need a playroom desperately, because having the kids play in my living room for very long drives me nuts.  They start running around and jumping and screaming and then I want to tear my hair out.  Then the room looks horrible covered in books and papers and toys and blankets.  I literally want to cry just thinking about it.

I kind of think one child, or multiple children many years apart is what is perfect for me.  I LOVE when its just Little Guy and me, it is calm most of the time, he is content to read or play while I clean and rarely runs around like a maniac when its just him (although when it is just him, I do let him run around a little more and jump off things because it doesn't get out of control).  We spend lots of fun time together, going places, or reading, or learning, or doing chores.  When everyone is here I just want to go hide (and sometimes I do).  As I have said before, the girls are super sweet.  They are helpful, kind, obedient, and respectful.  But I can't handle the constant requests for attention, the decibel level, the arguing, the questions about things they already know the answer to.  I mean I can handle it, but I find it unpleasant.

My whole house is over ran with stuff.  It is driving me crazy.  I can't clean it because there are not places for everything.  I have boxes of random stuff (books, toys, paperwork, craft stuff, school supplies, etc) all over.  Everyone has more clothes than can fit in their drawers, but we wear all of it so I don't really want to get rid of anything.  My couches are both covered with clean laundry.  My counters are covered in piles of papers.

I have been trying to get rid of stuff, but since I want at least a tiny bit of money for it, it isn't going very quickly.  So now in addition to all the piles of stuff I don't know what to do with, I have piles of stuff that I want to get rid of.  Despite the many cubic feet of stuff I have decluttered, the house feels as messy and overwhelming as ever.  The only room that is clean is Little Guy's because all his toys fit on his toy shelf and since Z left there is room for all his clothes in the closet.  It isn't organized, but the room is tidy enough to be pleasant and comfortable.  I am actually typing this post IN his room on the floor because it is the only room that isn't unpleasant and overwhelming to spend time in.  Well that and he was upstairs having independent play time while Michael baby-sat because I was at the dentist so I thought I would give him so quantity time (its not quality time because I am typing this, but he spends most of his waking time with me, so its probably okay).

I have no idea how to get my house in order.  I have no idea how to sell my stuff (I am not asking for big money here, just like $5 for a bag of baby clothes, or a huge box of books but the Facebook B/S/T groups are not buying!).  I have no idea how to get the girls to take care of their stuff (and feel like a hypocrite asking them to keep their room clean since I can't keep my house clean).  I have no idea how to keep them from spitting on the sink faucet every time they brush their teeth.

If I ever get my house clean, and have space for them to play and read, I am going to make strict rules on how their rooms must look when they are done with them or I will ground them from that room.  But right now there is no where for their stuff, and there is no where for my stuff and I want to throw it all away and start over, except I am extremely cheap, and fairly sentimental, so that will never, ever happen.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Why I Choose Christian Light Education Homeschool Curriculum

Last summer I decided that I was going to homeschool our foster daughters while they were on summer vacation.  There were two reasons for this: 1) Two of the three girls were behind academically.  I really hoped that by working through the summer we could help them get on track for the next school year.  They left our house soon after school started, so I don't know how well it worked. 2) I don't allow my children much in the way of screen time, and these girls were accustomed to having TV and tablets in their rooms all the time.  So they never really knew what to do with themselves.  I figured school work for the morning would help with that dilemma. Choosing a curriculum was difficult for me.  I know that some people bounce around and change curriculum a lot, but whatever I got, I hoped I would like enough to use the non-consumables with Little Guy.  I don't like wasting money, and I hate the idea of some topics falling through the cracks because different curricu

Things That Annoy Infertile Girls (or Maybe Just Me?) - Flashback Friday

This was actually one of my more popular posts when it was first published, but I still thought I would share it again.  Any additions to the post are in pink, as usual :) Accidental Pregnancies - So I have been trying for years to get pregnant, you go slut around and accidentally get pregnant? Immediate Pregnancies - You quit taking your birth control last month and now you are pregnant? People Who Give You Retarded Advice -            - Just stop trying and you will get pregnant            - My friend adopted a baby and got pregnant right away, you should do that            - Get drunk, people always get pregnant when they are drunk (Yes, they do. Because they are              intoxicated and forget to take precautions.) Whiny Girls That Pretend They Are Infertile - Trying for 5 months is not suffering from infertility. It takes a year on average to get pregnant.  I get that it might FEEL like infertility but it just isn't.  After YEARS of trying, I can't even rememb

Is Mother Goose Time Worth The Money?

Last night my husband asked me if I thought that Mother Goose Time was worth the money if I didn't get it for free.  I think this is an excellent question, and one that people probably want to know. How Much Does It Cost?: Mother Goose Time costs $75 a month for one child, including shipping if you buy it month to month.  If you can order and pre-pay ahead of time, you can save up to 15%, depending on how far ahead you pre-pay.  If you have more than one child using the curriculum it is only about $5 a month to add a child.  Many of the products provided cover the entire class, including manipulatives and story books.  The things that each child needs come packaged in their own bag for each child. What I Think of the Curriculum: The curriculum is great.  It is thorough and engaging.  It provides me with ideas and supplies to teach my son things I never would have thought to teach him, but will make him a very well rounded person.  He now talks about things he never would ha