Friday, June 25, 2004
Okay, there's something I need to come clean about. I'm now a stay-at-home mom (with only one kid) who has a housecleaner.
I've always been a lousy housekeeper. I can pay bills, plan meals, grocery shop, cook, weed and do laundry, but cleaning is beyond me. While our house is not filthy, it's also not ready for guests at a moment's notice. I swipe at the kitchen every night, and try to return things to their places, but at the end of twelve hours of parenting, it's tough to get enthused about dusting the television.
So I hired a woman to come twice a month. I'm justifying it because she's a single mom who just quit her job with a national cleaning service. She's cleaned my neighbors' house for two years, and they sing her praises. It's hard to know what a fair wage is. I'm assuming it's under the table, so her take-home is pretty good. Somehow it assuages my guilt to pay her close to $20 an hour.
And I figure that it's cheaper than marriage counseling! Because who among us hasn't done the math: Is going to work for nine hours and having to deal with an unreasonable boss and psycho coworkers (but let's not forget that lunch hour, and listening to a book on CD in the car) less than or equal to dealing with an active, demanding nine-month old who may or may not nap alone? So paying someone else to clean up after us will, hopefully, be worth it.
I've always been a lousy housekeeper. I can pay bills, plan meals, grocery shop, cook, weed and do laundry, but cleaning is beyond me. While our house is not filthy, it's also not ready for guests at a moment's notice. I swipe at the kitchen every night, and try to return things to their places, but at the end of twelve hours of parenting, it's tough to get enthused about dusting the television.
So I hired a woman to come twice a month. I'm justifying it because she's a single mom who just quit her job with a national cleaning service. She's cleaned my neighbors' house for two years, and they sing her praises. It's hard to know what a fair wage is. I'm assuming it's under the table, so her take-home is pretty good. Somehow it assuages my guilt to pay her close to $20 an hour.
And I figure that it's cheaper than marriage counseling! Because who among us hasn't done the math: Is going to work for nine hours and having to deal with an unreasonable boss and psycho coworkers (but let's not forget that lunch hour, and listening to a book on CD in the car) less than or equal to dealing with an active, demanding nine-month old who may or may not nap alone? So paying someone else to clean up after us will, hopefully, be worth it.
Thursday, June 10, 2004
Okay, I know that your perspective changes when you're a parent, and it should. But it's hard to know if you're turning into one of those "my kid can do no wrong" kind of people.
Ronan and I just returned from a two-week grandparent tour. First, I have to give props to the sit-n-stroll, which is a car seat that converts to a stroller. Much easier then lugging a Britax carseat and a 20-pound baby through the airport by yourself!
On a total of four flights, Ronan did pretty well. Fifteen minutes of screaming on one descent, which thankfully was the longest block of unhappiness. He was fussing right before take-off on one flight, and the flight attendant came around and said, "It's okay if you hold him, because he's under two." She was very nice, but I really think she meant, "Please hold him so he doesn't scream." We kept him in the carseat anyway, and he was asleep within five minutes. Because what's the point of buying him a seat if you don't use it? Especially on take-off and landing.
But the topper is our last, longest flight. Over four hours. A flight attendant came and asked if there was another toy Ronan could play with, because someone had complained that he was too loud. He was banging a rattle. And it was kinda loud. But it was the middle of the day, and the plane was packed. JP said, "Well, it's either this or screaming. Which would you prefer?" I felt like a momma bear, ready to go and rip a piece of flesh out of someone. JP kept saying, "Just let it go. Remember when we didn't have kids."
Probably good advice. It's easy to dwell on the negatives, when the truth is that there were plenty of gracious and complimentary folks as well. Like the super-helpful flight attendant who installed the carseat for me on our first flight as I was starting to freak out because the seatbelt didn't seem long enough (we were late getting on, since Ronan decided to have his first poop in two days just as they were announcing final boarding....). Travel is always an adventure, whether you have kids or not. I figure that if we get where we're going, it's a succes!
Ronan and I just returned from a two-week grandparent tour. First, I have to give props to the sit-n-stroll, which is a car seat that converts to a stroller. Much easier then lugging a Britax carseat and a 20-pound baby through the airport by yourself!
On a total of four flights, Ronan did pretty well. Fifteen minutes of screaming on one descent, which thankfully was the longest block of unhappiness. He was fussing right before take-off on one flight, and the flight attendant came around and said, "It's okay if you hold him, because he's under two." She was very nice, but I really think she meant, "Please hold him so he doesn't scream." We kept him in the carseat anyway, and he was asleep within five minutes. Because what's the point of buying him a seat if you don't use it? Especially on take-off and landing.
But the topper is our last, longest flight. Over four hours. A flight attendant came and asked if there was another toy Ronan could play with, because someone had complained that he was too loud. He was banging a rattle. And it was kinda loud. But it was the middle of the day, and the plane was packed. JP said, "Well, it's either this or screaming. Which would you prefer?" I felt like a momma bear, ready to go and rip a piece of flesh out of someone. JP kept saying, "Just let it go. Remember when we didn't have kids."
Probably good advice. It's easy to dwell on the negatives, when the truth is that there were plenty of gracious and complimentary folks as well. Like the super-helpful flight attendant who installed the carseat for me on our first flight as I was starting to freak out because the seatbelt didn't seem long enough (we were late getting on, since Ronan decided to have his first poop in two days just as they were announcing final boarding....). Travel is always an adventure, whether you have kids or not. I figure that if we get where we're going, it's a succes!
