Personal Update and Motivations

Back in November, the kids and I moved into my dad and step-mom’s house. This took a lot of thought and careful consideration. I don’t want to air my dirty laundry, but we were bringing out the worst in each other and our awesome little girl was quickly losing her spark. It was time for a change and her spark is coming back, brighter than ever 🙂

So for the past two months, I have been functioning as a single mom sans the occasional help from my amazing step-mother (she will sometimes look after Keagan while I care for Aine). That said, I have had to work on a few things, namely keeping things spic and span, taking care of the kids, and not ignoring myself!

The first thing I had to work on was keeping the house clean. Considering that my dad and step-mom keep their house magazine-ready, I have to keep the place looking as though no children live here. No toys out, nothing laying around, every fiber of the carpet pointing in the right direction, each decorative pillow delicately balanced on one corner to create a diamond… Serious business.

Even though there is a dishwasher here, it has not been used in the two months that I have been here. That includes the day that Christmas dinner was hosted here. It takes only a few minutes to do the dishes by hand, so honestly… Just do it. Clean as you go. It’s the easiest way to stay on top of things. I’ve even washed the dishes with Keagan resting on my right arm, chin on my shoulder, dish cloth firmly grasped in my right hand while moving the dishes with my left. Whatever works, right?

After baths, I immediately scrub out the tub to prevent any soap scum build-up. Uhg, this was such a pain in the butt at first, but now that I am in a habit it’s just another thing that goes along with bathing. And so it goes… Bath, dry off baby or kid, put baby in bouncy chair beside bathtub, scrub/rinse the tub, and you’re done. It takes no more than 2 minutes to do.

The last thing I’ve added to my routine is taking care of me. Oh my goodness. I haven’t taken good care of myself in so long! I made a promise to myself that I would actually get myself ready in the morning before dropping Aine off at school.

My morning routine:

0730 – Get up and shower! Yeah! After hitting the snooze a few times, so really it’s more like a 0750 wake-up. Shhh! Showering is fun. If Keagan is sleeping, leave him in bed with things properly positioned for safety. If Keagan is awake, change diaper and plop him into the bouncy chair to take into the bathroom beside the shower.

0800 – Miss Aine is woken up if she is still sleeping. We head downstairs to the kitchen table and I set her up with breakfast while my coffee is brewing in my Keurig.

While she’s eating, I’ll run upstairs and get dressed myself, then do my quick make-up routine: “Lise Watier Flash lift radiance” under my eyes (thank you, thank you, Glymm box!), Pressed powder if the day calls for it, BeautiControl’s shadow control cream in taupe (been using this for years) on my eyelids, Revlon’s “brow fantasy pencil & gel:” Using the pencil as both an eye liner and an eyebrow filler, then using the gel to shape my eyebrows; And lastly, falsies mascara. Total time on makeup is 3 minutes.

Usually, Aine is still eating at this point.

0820 – I brush the little miss’ hair and style it, brush my own hair, rush her off to get her dressed and start panicking about the time. Dishes will wait until I get back from dropping her off.

0830 – she is dressed, her lunch that was packed the night before is put inside her backpack which is then placed at the front door. I ask her to get her shoes and coat on and she will ignore me as always. I’ll run upstairs to get dressed myself if I’m not already at this point.

0845 – Keagan is buckled into his car seat and I hoist him up then hurry miss Aine out the door. We’re usually in the car and buckled in at around 0850. Drive to school and the drop off is done. Good job, transporter. Good job. Hugs and kisses, and back home we go!

0920 – Dishes are washed, fire is stoked, Keagan is eating and I am on coffee number three.

Boo-freaking-yeah. Mission accomplished. Until tomorrow.

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