A little while back, DT reader Dan (aka Vespadaddy) asked a question about houses being cleaner when there's a kid (or a kid on the way).
His question boils down to this: If you're an inveterate slob--and he means "cereal bowls in the living room, on the chaise, for 3
days...can't see the carpet because of the reams of newspapers" slob--is it normal to suddenly start keeping the place clean during the late stages of pregnancy?
My guess is, a baby changes everything, so whatever you were before, you're not now. Sleep much? Not anymore. Clean? you're a bum. Bum? You're a neatfreak. We've always been fairly tidy--we'd do regular Swiffering, even though we all know that's not cleaning, just it's harried substitute--but now, it feels like a major effort/accomplishment to get the place picked up by the end of the day. There's always gear, bottles, clothes, cloths, toys, &c spread out everywhere.
So who's normal around here?
Thank you thank you for all of your stroller research.
Using DT as a major resource, I purchased a Quinny Freestyle 4 off of eBay and it arrived yesterday. ($140 + $30 s&h.) The husband could not have been more psyched and assembled it on the spot. The Quinny 4 is sort of like a Land Rover Discovery. Not quite the Defender, not quite the Range Rover. Looks good, comfortable, but still built for business. The Quinny has a reversible seat, adjustable handle and big rubber tires. From what I could tell from pushing it around the living room late last night, it handles pretty well. I don't expect to be navigating narrow sales racks at Nordstrom's with it, but it sure does replace the hand-me-down Snap-n-Go with the bockety wheel. Beck is only 3 months, but I'm going to try and strap him in and take him around the hood tonight so that I can show all his little friends how Mom and Dad just pimped his ride.
you know, our cleaning habits never changed. i still make neat piles of whatever im working on scattered about the house (not the living room, but mostly the dining room and our office room). and we do have some late night ice cream treats and the bowls find themselves being pickup the morning after. our daughter is three now and we were about the same during pregnancy as well. having a child has changed many things, but cleaning habits have basically stayed the same. our house is not clean by any means, i would say it is on average with other households i have been to. our living room stays the cleanest as well as the hallway and any other open space that does not have a door we can shut to hide the mess piles.
Our cleaning habits changes in that we broke down and hired a cleaning service to come twice a month.
As if paying for Nutramigen wasn't enough for us...
Having a toddler got me to the point where I feel no pain about throwing things away. Especially things like candle holders and little frames that people tend to give as gifts, which I never really wanted in the first place but held on to for some reason.
Now I feel no pain about chucking them directly in the trash rather that waiting for it to get broken or thrown down the stairs later.