We got a lot accomplished this weekend.
P.J. might add that a couple of those items are things like “pull every muscle in one’s husband’s body” and “scrub things you’d forgotten existed in the house.”
On Friday night, I woke up around 1:30am in a bit of a panic. (Well, we woke when Zu started calling out for us- a weeklong new fad wherein she spikes a temp and babbles incoherently at us for the better part of an hour. Ah, MEMORIES.) But after she was settled again, I couldn’t settle. I couldn’t help but think about the state of my house and work and non-readiness for this third baby.
Some might say, “Hmm, you’ve still got 5+ weeks until things need to be put on or around the child, what’s the hurry?” Excellent point. Except. The surefire way to guarantee early labor? Leave tasks to the acceptable timeframe. Having done stuff this weekend ensures that I’ll go right up until the last second of my c-section. (Yaaaay.) Besides, looking around at the piles of stuff (read: life) just filled me with this sense of dread, like I’d go into labor and our friends and loved ones would arrive to take care of the girls and be all like- What Is Wrong With How You Live?!
P.J. pointed out that no one we know and love and would leave with our home and children would ever say that about our home and children…but I couldn’t hear him over my list-making. So. Here’s what we did:
- Gender-neutral baby clothing was brought down from storage and laundered. This equated to roughly three bins (and does not count the two other bins of Decidedly Girl clothing and half(?) a bin of Yeah, Only A Boy Would Wear That clothing). I left those to be laundered by non-judgmental friends and loved ones once we were at the hospital and figured out the actual gender of the child.
- The bassinet was set up in a not-at-all out of the way part of our room…ensuring that the cats would have a cozy place to rest for the next month and change.
- Two exersaucers, two bouncy seats, one corner swing, and enough feeding paraphernalia for an entire fleet of babies were sanitized and placed around the house- absolutely perfect for a crew of baby dolls and stuffed puppies to inhabit for samesuch next month and change.
- The closet in the kiddo’s room was prepped and organized; i.e. I removed all of the things which had been placed in there over the past year with the intention of moving it if we had another kid. (BOY, that stuff adds up.)
- I had P.J. run to the Vietnamese bakery to pick up some pork buns and other awesomeness. For the baby.
During this baby-related organization, we also cleaned the house within an inch of its life, did exactly ten loads(!) of laundry (including bedding and anything else that the sick child had touched/licked), and P.J. winterized the yard and furniture and doors and windows. (Guys can nest, too.)
I feel the same way.
And now it’s Monday. And I feel…still not at all ready for the baby. Which may actually be a good thing. Because if you ever reach that point where you feel like you’re ready to have a new person come and live with you-
…You’re probably absolutely insane and shouldn’t be allowed the job at all.
But you’re still (most likely) a very good and capable person.
Have a pork bun.
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