A while ago, I was a pretty organized guy. I always knew where I put my keys. I could find a receipt within 5 minutes, and my clothes were never piled on the floor from laziness.
A while ago, I remember thinking to myself that I would pass this mentality on to my brand new baby girl. I would be her beacon of time management and organization. From me, she would learn to put things where they belong, to keep a tidy room and to be where she needs to be on time.
Today, my proud organizational skills are virtually a thing of the past. I’m slipping. Fast. And I don’t know how to stop it.
For example, two and a half years ago I started cleaning the basement. We had our carpet replaced when we moved into our place and for some stupid reason I told them to put the old carpet in the basement. It remains.
In the spring, I took advantage of the home renovation tax credit to re-sod my lawn in the back and front yards. In the Fall, I reminded myself over and over again to fertilize the lawn before Winter arrives so all my hard work potentially goes to waste. Never happened.
I never turned the water off in the basement so the pipes wouldn’t freeze.
The list goes on and on.
For a while, I wondered what kind of Dad I would ultimately become if I couldn’t do these simple things to keep a house running in an orderly fashion. As I played with Pea, I’d feel guilty for not tackling the basement or putting the lawn furniture in the garage.
Then it hit me. Literally.
It was Pea. She was tugging on my arm, pulling me towards her giant playhouse so she could sell me some fruits and vegetables from her grocery store.
In that moment, all of my guilt for not tackling the many important to-do’s vanished because I realized that all of that could wait. I might have been feeling disorganized and out of sorts, but in reality I’ve been neglecting my many to-do’s because I’ve been hard at work on the only to-do that matters. Having fun with my little girl.
Sure, I’ll have to clean the basement someday. Just not today.
What to-do’s are you letting slip so you can spend time with your wee ones? Leave a comment and let me know… I’d like to know I’m not alone!
I’ve got a to-do list and a honey-do list. Neither of which have gotten any shorter, if anything they’ve grown! And you know what, I wouldn’t trade having those unfinished chores for anything. Because it means we’ve been hanging with our boy and that’s WAY more important!! (but I wouldn’t have believed you if you told me that I’d think that way before the boy arrived) 🙂
I totally justify the house being a disaster by telilng myself that at least I’ve spent quality time with my child. If I were sitting on the couch with my feet up, not paying any attention to my daughter, then I would be a sad excuse for a parent…with a full to-do list.
kids are a great time suck! is it bad parenting to use them as an excuse? “sorry i couldn’t vacuum/wash dishes/fold laundry (all three at once?) i had to play wii with our children to spend _quality_ time with them so they don’t grow up resenting me.” 🙂
Oh God, print and hang some pictures so it looks like I have four kids and not just two when you look at my walls and frames. I have even lied to the youngest saying “yes that is you…” in a baby pic when it is his brother….
Funny how life seems to thwart our best laid plans 😉 We do what is important to use at the time. Keep on trying!
I agree with Jen….don’t sweat that stuff now…there will be tons of time later! I vowed that I would always make my bed and always have Will’s toys put away at the end of the day. I stick to that (only twice missed so far) and it makes me feel somewhat accomplished. My garage looks like crap but at least where we spend the most time is organized!
You are SO not alone. Our days and weeks (and even years) are filled with all of the things filling our to-do list (and our house) but we, like you, are otherwise occupied being parents to our children. It is really such a short period of time that they even want us around so I figure in another few years I will have plenty of time to clean the basement and re-sod and renovate the kitchen and clean the clutter and sort the toys and…