Messy Mom Monday

I’m linking up today with Katie from Loves of Life, Brittany from Living in the Moment , and Jess from  Dudes and Sweets. for Messy Mom Monday. 

                                        
I’m very fortunate to have today off, and in turn I’ve let my toddler destroy my house.
I feel like I’m in a constant battle with my entire home with cleanliness. 
Toddlers don’t help.  All I do is clean up after him.
Between the laundry, a picture that I won’t even post on the internet.  (Our laundry room is located in our old dark basement, that is currently being used as my studio too.)
The dishes, Sippy cup overload with all their bits and pieces. The twelve plates I use throughout the day to try and attempt to feed my temperamental eater.

The cabinets, that I just freshly painted today, because they were covered with chocolate milk splatter, grubby fingerprints…
The bathtub has been over taken with squishy letters, rubber ducky's, and the random objects (this week it’s paintbrushes) that Harrison insists he bring in the bath.
 
My car.  Oh my poor, poor car.  Cheerios, goldfish, pretzels, and a couple of lost sippies that I am sure are trash worthy.
But my biggest problem is the toys. 

THE TOYS…

The obscene amounts of toys one toddler accumulates is Insane.

Oh and the pictures that have only been sitting on the couch since Christmas ready to be hung.  Husband and I can’t make any decisions, so there the artwork lies.

Our solution to this problem was to put his toys on our three season porch.  This has turned into a poor decision because it is –2 outside and it’s called 3 season for a reason.  So, poor H wants to go out there to get his toys but mean mommy says no.  So we compromise, and allow H to bring his toys in.  We started with just a couple at a time, which rapidly morphed into this disaster of a living space.

The toys seem to steadily crawl outside of the living room, into the kitchen, and all the way around to the stairs.  Notice all my opened freshly painted cabinets, it was a very productive 2 hour nap day.

I vaguely remember the days where it was only me and the husband to look after, but it seems so long ago. 

So very very long ago.

Mommy only weekend.

The husband is going to be gone tonight for my little brothers bachelor party. 

A little bit of me is excited.  I’m looking forward to a little bit of mommy and Harrison alone time.  OK, Ok, more like momma alone time.

After that sweet sweet bedtime hour, the house is going to be mine. 

All mine.

 

Maybe I’ll enjoy a bit of this,    

With some uninterrupted perusing of this 

With this in hand

 

Maybe I’ll actually stick to my goals and do some more posts and preschedule them?

More than likely I’ll end up reading blog upon blog, and become obsessed with yet another blogging Momma out there.

To be able to read that other mommas out there are going through the same exact thing that I am with my toddler is incredibly refreshing. Talking to my coworkers about their children that were born within days of my son always ends with me leaving the conversation worried about my child's development.  Because their children are, of course, perfect and spouting off hundreds of words at 19 months. 

That’s where real life blogging mommies come in. 

They reassure me that those moms aren’t like all mommies out there.

I love that I can share via twitter that my 19 month old has a decent vocabulary but that his favorite words to use are “Oh, Shit”.  And heck, I get a laugh out of it not judgment.

The blogging world has made me feel better about myself as a mother when I’ve worried that I was screwing my child up by making him CIO.  Thank you BabeChilla for this great post.

 

So tonight I look forward to reaffirming my mommy choices, wine in hand, body on couch.., with this sweet boy tucked tight in bed..

So What Wednesday

I'm here linking up to Shannon from Life After I Dew with another So What Wednesday.

   (PS Shannon I love your SWW's, don't get rid of them!)

So here goes...



So What.....

-If I felt like not being the adult and acting like a child today at school when I found a student had deliberately put a tack on my chair.  (Really?  My feelings were more hurt than anything, I didn't sit on it.)

-If I really look forward to the lazy nights on the couch with my husband, after H has gone down to bed.  Sweet, sweet, silence.

-If I only scrub my shower when those little pink dots start to show up.

-If those pink dots have started growing up my shower curtain.  Can't believe I'm admitting that,  Gross!


- If I took some pleasure from the compliments my students gave to me.  Nothing like a kindergartner telling me I'm pretty.

- That I take full advantage of being an art teacher, and wear clothing with paint already on it to school.

- If I have ancient sippy cups lodged far under my car seat. It's so cold I can't smell them, so I leave them there instead of digging them out.  Again, Gross! 


- I'd rather sit here typing than do the four baskets of laundry that have been accumulating all week.



So there it is.  My disgusting So What's of the week.  

To be a working mom.

I was a bitch.


Yes, I said it.   I was a "b-word" to my day care provider.
(I curse IRL, it just feels so harsh to do it in blogging form)

 I'm having a hard time balancing mom commitments, work commitments, and those of my daycare provider.   That's what happens when you choose to use In-home care.

My provider is a relative of a relative on my husbands side, so she's 'family'.  I love her, I really do.  She cares for my child well, her family loves him, and I do not doubt that she makes sure all his needs are met.

I'm just having a hard time dealing with her inability to be consistent.  This is her job, I expect her to be able to do it.

See, this is where I start to get grumpy.   I'm just tired of early pick ups, last minute cancellations, and last minute drop off's because of her kids games.

I got a text last night at 8:30 pm.
Yes, a text, she doesn't call for some reason.  I wish she would.

The text let me know that she wouldn't be able to care for H the next day.
I only looked at my phone at 10:00.

So at 10:00 pm, I'm left with no care for the next day.   As a teacher, it is a big No-No to not come to school the day after a vacation.

This comes on top of my sitter telling me (on the same day as our 8:30 text) that she wouldn't be able to watch H until 10 am this Friday.

In the end it all worked out thanks to my fabulous MIL.   But it still left me with a sour taste in my mouth.
 (and a guilt inducing reply text from me that mentioned my"'scrambling for care for this morning and Friday"... I regret that.   It was done in anger and frustration.  Hence me being a 'b-word')

To stay in a place where I know my child is loved, and cared for but is not always the most reliable?
Or go to a center where I know they will always be open, have longer hours, but my child will be with a rotating set of care givers.

So I sit here with a list of pros and cons, with a decision I thought I'd never question.

Working and being a mom breaks me.

Well, it's been a while.

I'm one of those bloggers that is writing about the fact that I haven't written for a while.  

Typical.

It was hard rolling back into the transition of work and mommyhood.  I'm cashing in on nap time to catch up on the blogging world.   I was going back and forth in my mind whether or not I wanted to continue this venture in blogging, and to tell you the truth, I loved it this summer.

Creating and writing, posting, and networking.

Time management, spending time with my wild man Harrison, husband, and being in my very first Craft Fair, took all my time this fall.   As time went on the space got further and further from when I last posted so heres to a fresh year, and a fresh new start on my blog.


RECAP of September, October, November, and December...

- Had yet another birthday.... 26 years old.
- Started another school year, as the Crazy art teacher.
- Harrison transitioned wonderfully into being back at day care.
- Went to the fair with H, and he loved chasing all the animals around petting them.

- Also tried giving kisses to random little girls in the petting zoo.
- Went apple picking with daddy and mommy.  H was a blast, was able to pick his own apples and the whole experience got me excited for what we are able to do as a family now that he's getting a bit older.

 






October

-Trick or treating with my little Monkey.

- Had a crazy snowstorm where we took H-man out in his snowsuit to enjoy the fresh flakes

Note that since then it has not snowed again.

- Started panicking about the fact that I hadn't done enough for my first craft fair and set up shop in my basement creating away!

 November
- Participated in my first Alternative Craft Fair.  Deemed, Not your Grandma's Craft Fair.

Had a blast and met lots of new friends, and artisans.

December
- As a result of the Craft Fair made a couple more Etsy sales.  
-Involved lots of planning and shopping for gifts.  Created and dabbled in some homemade gifts including skittles vodka and homemade crayons.
-Sent out our Christmas card with this picture that I have fallen in love with, and since have overused all over my home.

- Celebrated my husbands Christmas Birthday turned 26.  Yes, I nabbed myself a younger man.
- Had a round of sickness on our Christmas break.  Started with H-man, moved on to me, back to H-man, then on to the husband. (and the cat and dog, gross).


So here's to a new year, with a fresh rejuvenation and commitment to writing this blog.

So What Wednesday

I'm connecting up with Shannon again from Life After I Dew for another 

So What Wednesday

SO WHAT IF...

-I encouraged my husband to go to a friends last night, there is no way I would be able to watch Bachelor Pad with him around.  (Totally wasn't worth it)

-I'm letting my toddler eat a pop tart.  It's our last summer morning together.

-I'm a bit sad that I'm going to have to start sharing the TV with my Husbo, I love having total domination of it during vacation.

-I'm still trying to get my child 'into' TV.  Momma wants some down time.

-I 'braved the storm' for some Pumpkinhead Ale, it was SO worth it.

-I plan on treating myself to some Pumpkin Spice Coffee on my first day of school, nothing says fall like some hot Dunkins Coffee.

-A little bit of me is looking back to going to work.

-I am the one that consistently leaves the vehicles on little to no gas.  Whoops.

-The reason I'm truly excited for my birthday is to have a guilt free date night.

-I let my kid attack all my animals, within reason, it gives them character.

-Words with Friends is my new favorite obsession.

-My new weekend project is to devise a way to not let my toddler repeatedly turn off the DVR.

That's my So What Wednesday, Link up and join us!

Make Yourself Monday

Good Morning Monday....   My last Monday off with my H bug for the summer, boo.

I've decided to take part in Make Yourself Monday with Jamie from For Love Of Cupcakes.

As an art teacher I'm always looking for unique and different ways to dress and adorn myself.

I've recently decided to take part in an Alternative Craft Fair to show my artwork and my goods off.   In hopes to sell something.

I've been really into these canvas bags as of late....

They are perfect to throw my keys into, my credit card, my blackberry, and a snack for my rambunctious toddler.  This is the perfect alternative to a full size purse, which has become bulky to me as of late while doing quick errands.  I need my hands empty to stop my hurricane toddler from destroying the store.

I also discovered this clutch at my new found love, Hobby Lobby.

It's simple, it's natural, and it has leopard print inside.  That was a surprise to me when opening it, I didn't read the description to well obviously.

So I've been taking these items and making them my own.  I've been using my first one day in day out, and am in LOVE.  I throw the small purse inside my big purse on days where I feel like using one of my many large bags. 

   

This is one of the smaller purses that I happen to use day to day.

This is the larger size one, about 6in x 9in.

A close up of one of my 'small' purses.

Yet another small purse.

Now I kind of fell in love with this one and am debating whether I should add some color in small spots.  I love that when you close the clutch all you can see are a couple of curls if you want to mellow the look down.

 

 

As an art teacher I do create work of my own as well.  So naturally I put some in my Etsy shop.

As well as a drawing in ink.

Now I do all the typical fabric flower headbands, flower bobby pins, and pins like many of us bloggers out there as well.

I also dabble in doing inappropriate onesies for babies.  I loved putting my son in these... my husband hated it.  Which made it that much more fun.

So I do a little here, do a little there, and you can find most of it over at my website on Etsy... 

Swims At Midnight

Or you can contact me through my Facebook page at

Swims At Midnight, on Facebook

I'm going to be participating in a couple of giveaways very soon including one of my own fabric flower headbands, and BasicH2 an organic cleaner from Andrea.

Ashley