Housework and Kids Don't Mix - Plus sorting out the girls wardrobe

I don't think I am alone when I say I hate doing housework. I love it when my house is clean and I especially like it when it's clean AND tidy (which is a rarity and if you blink you will miss it as there would be some kind of pile of toys tipped out in the loungeroom before I have put the duster away). 

But doing housework with preschooler and a toddler is like a nightmare sometimes. I will be busily cleaning our bathroom or ensuite and be thinking "yay, I'm almost done" to wandering back into an absolute mess! Toys on the floor, Lilly's wardrobe open with drawers open, clothes strewn across the floor. She is 4. She thinks she is 14. She gets changed every five minutes and just dumps her clothes on the floor of her room.

Our loungeroom. Yes there is a slippery slide in the middle of the room as it is new and the girls don't want it outside yet. Yes there is a playhouse in the corner - it is the best idea ever!

Arrhhh! Kids will be kids, and bored kids will get stuff out.
But you know what I hate most about housework? How much the girls hate me doing it. The actual act of housework and cleaning doesn't bother me all that much, it is how much they hate it when I have to get the vacuum out (it has got to a stage where my hubby does it for me on a Saturday afternoon when the girls and I are out). 

Friday's clean wasn't so bad, I got to mop the floors and clean the bathrooms before they had had enough. 

Go me!

Here in Australia Spring has certainly sprung and with Spring comes Spring cleaning! Yesterday, folks, I finally, yes FINALLY sorted out the girls wardrobe! It had gotten so bad that whenever I had to put their clean clothes away I would cry. Yes literally cry. The two girls share a wardrobe, and inside the robe is a chest of draws. Clothes had been pulled out and just shoved back in in a tangled mess. The space down the sides of the chest of drawers housed junk, bags, jackets - just shoved down there! On the overhead shelf loads of too-small disposable nappies mingled with cot blankets and breastfeeding pillows - just shoved up there!


So it was high time I fixed this issue. Two washing baskets of clothes (too small for either of the girls) have been removed, linen on the top shelve sorted, junk removed. Everything just so.
 

Here is our girls' wardrobe now it has been sorted out :-)

Here is the bag full of outgrown clothes - how did it all fit? This does not include the washing basket full of rubbish, nor the massive bag of unused nappies!

I am feeling so relieved I have finally completed this long awaited chore. sigh of relief. Today I put some more washing away and it I felt happy. I felt proud of my house, their room. I moved Lilly's bed around to give more room near the wardrobe and Miss Lilly is so stoked about it, showing my Mum and Sister "how much room" she has to get her clothes out!

While I was at it, I re-organised the girls' things. I couldn't actually bring myself to remove any toys (which would have ultimately gone in a bag and kept in the garage, you know in case you ever need them again).

Next job is sorting out our spare room wardrobe which consists of all of the girls "too small" clothes, plus all of our CD's, plus boxes of random things from when we moved in (4 years ago). Yep, I have been putting that little job off. I can't get rid of anything and I am waiting until hubby puts up some shelves in the garage so I can transfer all of the items from the spare wardrobe to the garage shelves.

Small problem. We currently have zero floor space in the garage due to all of our "belongings" down there (by "belongings" I mean stuff you can't throw away but don't want in the house).
Yes we have a lot to do around the Wilson home. But it is more fun hanging out with the girls or work on soapy projects.

What is/was it like for you when you needed to do housework with little ones? Oh I would love to know I am not the only one who struggles (or am I?). Oh gosh I hope I'm not the only one :-)

X Vicky
 

REWIND POST: Weaning a Toddler - My Story

Now that I have reverted back to my "Blogger" blog I thought I would share a few of my posts from my "other blog". This particular post is my story on breastfeeding, and in particular my difficulty (which in the end turned out not so difficult afterall) in weaning my second daughter....

"When I began breastfeeding my second baby, Zoe, I could not imagine still feeding her on her 2nd birthday! I never intended to breastfeed a toddler, but here I was on her 2nd birthday responding to her request for a "booby" when I took her to bed.  I would never have thought my little girl would be able to talk, work an ipad or do 32 piece jigsaw puzzles - whilst actually, literally breastfeeding.
We are all told breast is best and breastfeeding for the first 6 months to 1 year (and beyond) is recommended. I really enjoyed breastfeeding my children but didn't want to be breastfeeding a 2 year old. I am not saying those who want to continue breastfeeding beyond this age shouldn't, nor do I think Mother's who choose not to breastfeed at all are wrong either. It is all up to the individual, and that is fine. But for me I really didn't want to breastfeed beyond 1 year. But I was not prepared for the difficulty and heartache of trying to wean Zoe, once she turned 1.
When I had my first baby, Lilly, I breastfed her for 7 months. The first 8 weeks or so were hard, but after that it was as easy as anything. It made night feeds easier, everyone got better sleep. She would on occasion have a bottle of formula, especially if she was spending the night with my Mum. So when I decided to move on from breastfeeding it was an easy, straightforward and quick transition.

When I had Zoe I didn't give breastfeeding a second thought. She attached like a dream and I had no dramas whatsoever! Again, night feeds were a breeze, we all got enough sleep (as we co-sleep), it saved so much time as I didn't need to prepare bottles and of course it was good for her.

At 6 months Zoe decided she didn't want a dummy anymore. Great! I thought to myself. This will save some dramas down the track.  This did mean she would continue to fall asleep at the breast (as she had done her whole life), and when she would wake in the night she would want to breastfeed. I didn't mind. I was just happy she was asleep and happy, and we continued this way until she turned 1. We set up the cot up against our bed with the side removed to give her more space (but still have "access" to me) and she loved it from the start.

I did try on various occasions to try her on a bottle, just so it would be easy for someone else to feed her if I needed to be elsewhere. She did not like bottles at all and would refuse to drink from it. I wasn't too fussed at the time.

After her 1st birthday I decided to try and wean her. All the advice told me to do it slowly, eliminating a feed a week. Try distracting her when she asks for it. Cover up. None of this worked for me. I tried on various occasions while she was 1 but it was just not working! She was miserable. I was miserable for making her miserable. The best I could do was eliminate day feeds, but continue to feed at night. 

This lasted a week. 

It seemed having no feeds in the day would cause her to make up for it at night. Her nappies weren't wet. She would barely drink anything else. So we went back to how we had always been. I felt wrong distressing her, she wasn't doing anything wrong. It was me and only me that was causing her to be unhappy. I felt terrible.
I scoured the internet for advice (as you do), and found this to be quite a common situation for Mum's who are breastfeeding and older baby. 

As mentioned above, most of the advice was to wean slowly, and I knew this wasn't working for me. I came across one article where a lady was in the same boat as me. She wanted to assure all other Mum's who were struggling to wean their child, that one day it will happen. Her 2 year old suddenly lost interest in breastfeeding. Literally overnight.  You can read her story here. Wow, I wish Zoe would do this. It would take away all the heartache. Could I be this lucky?

Just over a week ago Zoe had her 2nd birthday. In the days leading up, she wasn't feeding as much as usual. I thought maybe now is the time to try weaning again.

On her birthday she was easily distracted and no feeds whatsoever. I didn't refuse, she just didn't really ask. I did feed her that night - there was no way I was letting her go to sleep distressed on her birthday.

The next morning she didn't want one either. She didn't have one all day. She did ask when she was bored but when I would suggest something instead (whether a drink, or a game) she was easily distracted. What was going on?

The real test came at bedtime. Would she ask for one? She didn't. I was shocked! She laid there talking to herself, with me laying next to her. She got a little grumpy but no tears and eventually fell asleep.

She has not had her beloved "booby" since, and last night she slept through the entire night for the first time in her life. I have gone from having a baby that could not fall sleep unless she was being breastfed, to a baby who can fall asleep on her own (well I am still next to her, but that doesn't bother me), and sleep through the night. All in a week and basically cold turkey.
It seems Zoe was ready this time. There have been no tears (from either of us) and she is as happy as she has ever been. Her nappies are wet again and she is happy to have other drinks. She is eating better too!

There must be a "right" time, or a window of opportunity, somewhere along the line to wean your baby. I am so glad that I ended up waiting until she was ready, and now it doesn't matter how long I breastfed for. I don't wish I had persisted with one of my earlier attempts where both her and myself became distressed and unhappy. Just like with potty training, if you wait until they are ready, the transition will be easier than if you force it. And on that note, Zoe has used her potty a few times now of her own accord (yay!).

So for those Mum's out there who feel like their child will never show signs of weaning (and you wish they would), don't give up hope! I thought Zoe would be the last person in the world to lose interest in breastfeeding. But here we are :-). I finally feel like I have a toddler and not a new baby, and I am really excited about this new phase in our life"

UPDATE!!! Since writing this post over 4 months ago, Zoe is still a clingy little lovely, but she sleeps all night, she is confident, and extremely active. She and big sis Lilly have become great little friends (most of the time.