What do you do? HELP!

[rainyday]

Anyone else ever have days where they're just completely overwhelmed by the basic tasks of the house?

I'm just having one of those evenings where I look in the kitchen at that pile of dinner dishes and the crumbs on the floor and the lunchbox to be washed and the napkins to be laundered and the pan that's soaking, and I just can't motivate myself to do it.

I'm a bit OCD when it comes to neatness and cleanliness and when it looks like it does right now, I just get so overwhelmed that I don't even know where to start. It's like Mt Everest, and I can't even take a step to start.

UGH!

Anyone else ever get like that?

[HeatherAtHome]

Yes. Too often.

Sometimes I don't do anything and give myself permission to take a day. Or just do the worst of it and leave the rest for tomorrow. Basically, I know my limits. If it's been a long day and I'm tired, I'm not against putting something off for the next day where I know I'll zip right through it when I feel like myself again.

[naturechicplus1]

i hear you...i'm not sure how i ever managed to get everything done when i was working and had no child! but then again, i didn't cook two extra meals a day at home nor did i have a little mess maker running around the house!
I've really been hating the dishes lately, but it can be a very zen activity if you let it. just appreciate the feel of the water, the look of the bubbles, smoothly washing things, well...it's an idea anyway, not sure if i'm really ever able to make it that zen, but it helps to try.
i usuallly make a list, gives me time to breath a bit, feels good to cross things off. i also agree with giving yourself permission to leave it til tomorrow...find something fun to do with the kid(s) or your dh and then tackle it after you've had a good laugh.

[amber913]

I'm never happy with the state of my house, and i don't have the time to improve upon it (and it's totally company-friendly, just not as PERFECT as i'd like it). So i've decided to do what i can, when i can and leave the rest for when my kids are older and want nothing to do with me, so i have too much time to clean. This is my inspiration--this is what i read when i feel myself caring too much:

Song for a Fifth Child

Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth...
empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
hang out the washing and butter the bread,
sew on a button and make up a bed.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue
(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
(pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).
The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew
and out in the yard there's a hullabaloo
but I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo.
Look! Aren't her eyes the most wonderful hue?
(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
for children grow up, as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

[GranoLLLy-girl]

Originally Posted by amber913

Song for a Fifth Child

Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth...
empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
hang out the washing and butter the bread,
sew on a button and make up a bed.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue
(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
(pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).
The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew
and out in the yard there's a hullabaloo
but I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo.
Look! Aren't her eyes the most wonderful hue?
(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
for children grow up, as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

This is darling. And so true. I have tears in my eyes just thinking about it.

[dachshundqueen]

Ditto on the tears.

Lizzie

[1jooj]

I do like Heather. I turn off the kitchen lights and go to bed/the couch. Then when I get up in the AM, I run a sink of soapy water and take care of it while I make my coffee.

If I feel terrible about it, I know I won't get it done that day.

[rainyday]

I ended up pouring myself a glass of wine and vegging out on the couch for a while. Then I screwed up my courage and tackled the kitchen for five minutes at a time with five minute breaks.

Thanks for the advice and commiseration!