It bears repeating: Piss poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine! (Maybe I just wanted an excuse to use this graphic.) Yeah, I guess I'm being snarky. I feel like the last few weeks I've been in emergency-management-mode rather than my usual, and preferred, mode of planning things out (to the best of my ability) ahead of time. And, quite frankly, I'm tired. I guess being a parent (and, sometimes, a wife) automagically means you're in a constant state of crisis. Mom! I can't find my... Mom! I'm hungry. Mom! Can you help me with... Mom! I hate these pants! Honey? Have you see my...? This crisis-mode sort of spills over into other aspects of my life (like work) and at this point, I'm kinda over it. (I've been using that hashtag a lot lately, it seems. #overit) Below are a few things which, were they to occur, would, with minimal effort on the part of the others in my home, make my life so much easier. **Fair warning, this could also be considered a list of Mom/Wife Peeves. I'm certain I'm not the first person to come up with this list.
MOM'S WISH LIST
- I don't want to have to uncover the dining table in order to be able to use it. Your dishes should have been put in the sink after you were done eating. This isn't difficult, really. Just a matter of habit which you should be in already. Breakfast dishes, especially. Those icky, congealed bowls of leftover milk are disgusting.
- I do not want to have to empty the dishwasher before I can fill it. The dishwasher is not storage for clean dishes or a drying rack for wet ones. Please put the dishes away, in the cabinets, where they belong. If you can't reach, ask for help.
- I do not want to empty the washing machine before I can use it. Clothes which have been washed and have been left to sit - wet - in the closed confines of the washing machine, have this awful habit of starting to stink (or wrinkle horribly) after a couple of hours. This is the best reason to move the laundry along in a timely manner. However, the other reason - the honest one - is that it just ticks me off when I go to use the machine and there is another load in there waiting to be dried. I wash, you wash, I wash, you wash - we cannot wash at the same time.
- I do not want to put away the ironing board so I can get to the dryer. The small room which houses the dryer is not the place to iron your clothes. Further, it is not the place to leave the ironing board set up. The excuse that you were waiting for the iron to cool down is a weak one; there are other options.
- I do not want to step on it. If you spill it or drop it, pick it up. Period. If I find it on the floor, it will become mine - to do with as I please. Up to, and including, throwing it away. (This includes change. If I find your forgotten or discarded nickles and dimes, they will become mine, too.)
- If you pee in it, spit in it, or bathe in it, don't leave stuff on it. Meaning, rinse out the sink after you're done brushing your teeth (or shaving your whiskers). Wipe off the seat if you sprinkle when you tinkle. Ring around the tub? Mr. Clean Magic Erasers work wonders. Just sayin'.
- If you take it out, put it back. Or, if you remove it from where it was, put it back where you found it. This includes laundry which may be hanging up to dry which will not get dry lumped into a pile on the back of a closet door so you can shower. This also goes for food, toys, games, and other items.
Please clean your own rooms, clear off your own dishes, wash your own clothes, etc. Everyone in the house is now old enough to handle these things. You are not too tired. You are not too sick. You are not too busy. You are too lazy. I will try to do better, too, because I know I'm not perfect.
Signed,
Exasperated Mom
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