Crystal-wants-a-lot

Lately I've been craving something new. Something exciting. I told my husband I want to go on a trip this year. I've also been fantasizing about a new-to-me vehicle. And I've been mentally house shopping while also dreaming of renovating.

In terms of our house, I think I just need to find a way to appreciate what we have now. To downsize my "stuff" to make room for real life. Because both Tyler & I don't really want to increase our mortgage, especially when it seems it would need to increase by a LOT to get the next few items on my wish list (more above ground square footage, more rooms, more bathrooms, nicer exterior) without sacrificing our house positives (Leduc, great lot, neighbourhood, parking, main living area, kitchen, mostly well decorated).

And like most people, we loathe the actual moving part. So, I'm on a mission for a solution. How to I get happy with my house &/or upgrade my home to get what I want?

3 Quick Super Tips to a Cleaner House

I love having a clean house, I just really don't love spending time getting it to that state. Here are 3 Quick Super Tips to a Cleaner House:

1. Automate Something: My mom got a robotic floor sweeper for Christmas and it's genius. After watching her's for a few days I decided I needed one too. We have the open concept on our main floor with all laminate flooring so the sweeper works really well (especially with it's GPS technology). It comes with re-usable cloths but being the Lazy Super Mom, I opt to use the disposable Swiffer Sweeper brand cloths. Bonus is that I got mine for on sale for $149 at Canadian Tire (regular $249). From start to finish takes about an hour so I don't recommend it for that quick sweep before company comes over. Best plan, put it on nightly after the kids are in bed & while you're watching TV to get that "productive" feeling. Freshly swept floors have a big CLEAN impact. Oh, the robot also washes floors but I find the sweeper more beneficial.

2. Make it Smell Clean: How a house smells has a huge impact in the perception of clean. That's why I'm a Scentsy junky & finally decided that I might as well be a consultant! There are tons of great CLEAN scents including Clean Breeze (reminds me of that fresh laundry smell) and Welcome Home (which has a nice home-y smell to it). Scenty is super safe as it uses a light bulb to warm wax and can be left on 24/7. The wax doesn't evaporate so there is no danger of setting a fire. You can see current Scentsy product on my website at http://crystalnelson.scentsy.ca 

3. Throw Something Out: Or give it away. Or sell it. Doesn't matter, just get rid of it. The number one reason my house STAYS cluttered and messy is that I have more stuff than can be held reasonably within my space. This isn't new news but things are usually cliche and repeated because they are true. I can clean & organize my main floor but then my office will likely be over run with re-located piles of paper. Clean the office and the island in my kitchen usually gets filled back home. Everything doesn't have a home because there isn't enough room to have a home for everything. I literally went onto real estate websites last night because I'm feeling cramped with all the stuff. Turns out there isn't much better out there for space unless we're willing to double our mortgage (we're not).

Over the holidays I had a sneak peak in my aunt-in-laws cupboards & she had space in them. SPACE! As in room that was not being occupied by a crazy amount of cups, papers, spices, etc. Every time I grabbed a glass from her cupboards it had a calming effect on me to see that space there, rather than the chaotic-ness that explodes from my cupboards (and counters and floors...). So, go do a quick 5 minute purge in one of your most cluttered spaces right now. Then bask in the emptiness.

Mommy Brain?

The last two weeks have been a challenge for this Super Mom. Hubby was back to work after a lovely 4 week break over Christmas & I didn't do well re-adjusting to being a "Married-Single Mom" again. 

My habit of going to bed (ridiculously) late returned over the holidays and I wasn't able to get back on track this shift. This probably contributed to the extreme case of Mommy Brain I was experiencing these last two weeks!

Example #1:

After fueling up the family van, I started heading towards our bank for some drive-thru bank (Sidenote: I wish more of my errands could be accomplished via drive-thru). During the routine glance to my side mirror, I noticed my gas tank door was open, which made me pause and ask myself if I actually remembered putting my gas cap back on. I did not. I pulled over, hopped out & confirmed that I was missing my gas cap. So I had to double back & reclaim the gas cap that I had left on the fueling station. Made all the more embarrassing because the gas station was super busy and a young man was fueling up at the pump I was previously at & I had to ask him to pass me my gas cap. I'm sure he was thinking "crazy lady in the mini van."

Example #2:

After a much needed afternoon out at the movies sans children, I decided to grab a tea from good ol' Tim Hortons on my way home. I'm sitting in the drive-thru line day dreaming when I realize I already drove past the order speaking - without ordering! I had to reverse my vehicle a couple feet and was again embarrassed as there was a vehicle behind me. 

Example #3:

It's a weird one, but I swear my taste buds are not working at normal capacity. I feel like I'm only tasting at a 10% level. I think I need to consult Dr.Google on this one. 

There's a few more examples, but one is truely borderline mom incompetence that i don't want an Internet record of lol

Hopefully after hubby's week home, I'll be refreshed and get back to Super Mom!

Omigosh, yes!

Insomnia

Yep, it's 3am & I am still awake. I haven't done a single productive thing since the kids went to sleep. For some annoying reason I suffer from self-inflicted insomnia that stops me from going to bed at a decent time, yet I also have no energy or motivation to tackle the tasks I want done. The tasks even range from fun (creating homemade postcards, digital scrapbooking) to functional (making a dent in the mounds of laundry, showering). Instead I have spent a ridiculous amount of time reading random articles on BuzzFeed, browsing tattoos on Pinterest & half watching a CNN documentary on Netflix. Boo Lazy Mom, where is Super Mom hiding?

I love hosting play dates!

One of the reasons I like hosting play dates, is because it forces me to clean my house. Yep, I'm more concerned about what other people think of my house than I have for the "health & safety" of my family. LOL

PS My husband loves the playdates for the same reason.

A (lazy) Super Mom

I am a self appointed, Lazy Super Mom. Sometimes I am the fun, quirky, awesome mom I want to be...like when I have geeky coordinated themed birthday parties. and when I have my household perfectly scheduled and on task as a well oiled machine.

Other times, I am the epitome of the lazy mom: I want to nap on the couch/play on my iPad all day while I pretend my 4 year old isn't eating all the chocolate in the house.  The two sides of my Mom Personality are constantly battling it out while being judged by people all around.

Well guess what? I am both lazy & super and I feel like I'm not alone. I feel there is a subsection of the population out there who has their highs and lows as I do, and those mom's are feeling guilty for not being consistent. Or lets face it, we feel guilty for being "upstaging" when we're Super and we feel guilty when we aren't performing when we're Lazy. 

It's time to drop the guilt and just be who we are. More specifically, I have decided it's time I stop feeling guilty about my duo-super hero personality while trying to struck a more stable balance. 

In the meantime, I'm here to share my ups & downs of Motherhood, honestly and hopefully with some humour and relate-ability. Because amongst my many aspirations and fantasies, I would also like to be rich and famous :-P