How and when do you find the time to.....MEME

It is so so so so long since I have been tagged in a meme, so rather than seeing this as a chore, I am made up :-)

I am going to head it up with the same image that the author of this meme used.

I was tagged by the wonderful Julie: Mama Owl over at My Life and Kids.

The rules of this meme are:

1. Please post the rules.
2. When answering the questions, please give as much detail as possible!
3. Leave a comment on Sex, Drugs, Rocker and...Stroller so she can keep track of the meme and steal your routine tips to make her world a happier place. 
4. Also if you want add a little paragraph at the bottom to give a general summing up about your weekly routine!
5. Tag 3 or more people and link to them on your blog.
6. Tweet tweet tweet #howdoyoufindthetimetomeme

How and when do you find the time to...

....do your laundry?

I work 3 days a week (Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday) so what I do is, ensure that I have a laundry day.  On this day I do all the washing, and for the last few months when the weather hasn't been good enough to put it on the line, I have then been going to the Launderette to dry it all.  Now, this, has led to many many a row with the husband, as he can't bear the shame of me going there, to the point where he dented his car door one day, he was so angry about it, but (1) we live in a flat so we do not have room for a tumble dryer (2) it really beats having clothes hanging on indoor airers here there and everywhere (3) I always coincide it with Aaron's nap, so I sit and enjoy my kindle while he sleeps and the laundry goes round and round and round and (4) folded laundry straight out of a HOT tumble drier does NOT need ironing.

Then when I get home I take great delight in hanging it all up.  I always know if Aaron's laundry is fully up to date, because if it is, his rail is FULL.  Voila:

In fact it is so cold and so wet today (in June!!!!) that I even had a trip to the Launderette TODAY...

....write a blog post?

This I often do not have time for, which is why my blogging has become very erratic of late - also thanks to a February incident, I lost my love of blogging (and bloggers) in a big way.... nuff said about that the better.  

Anyway, I have to blog when Aaron is playing or like right now, sleeping.  The reason I used to be able to blog A LOT, early 2011, was because (1) I had not gone back to work yet from maternity leave (2) I blogged when Aaron was on my lap breastfeeding, which was frequent (yes I blogged typing with one hand, and as the laptop was on my left, used to get a crick in my neck) and (3) back then I was addicted. I read as much as I wrote, and therefore could be seen commenting here there and everywhere on my favourite blogs - I just don't have time for that now.  But credit to those bloggers, they still blog as regularly and consistently as they did back then! Awesome!

....look after yourself...i.e. wash your hair, paint your nails, take a bubble bath etc?

I went through a phase where I didn't have a long hot soak for about a year, and I was lucky that I could squeeze in a shower every day.  But then I went through a phase this year, where I missed baths so made a point to have them really regularly and had used my Xmas Soap and Glory bubble bath within a matter of weeks (rather than months) but nails! I only do nails.... when I go for a manicure which I have not done in a while, but there are days when I don't even brush my hair if we are having a PJ day, which given that I have 4 days off a week we do sometimes do.

What really guts me, is previously I had really really good skin, and didn't look my age, but the 1st thing I did when I had a baby was go for miles for walks with the buggy really frequently and as personal grooming (like makeup and skincare) had taken a back-seat with motherhood, it meant I was out in the sun summers 2010 and 2011 without SPF or sun block on, so now on my cheeks and below my eyes I have freckles that resemble those liver spots that elderly people have on their hands, and I'd managed to avoid those till the age of 37...... gutted..... I do suddenly look my 39 years this year :-(

....spend time with your other half?

This just does not happen!  Aaron will be 2 in a week and we have not had one date night since he was born.  I really don't want to go into the ins and outs of it as it will just make me cross, but motherhood suffice to say has not been good for our marriage....

....do fun stuff with your LO?

Thanks to the fact that I only work 3 days a week we regularly get to do fun stuff.  As a family, the most recent was a trip to Paradise Wildlife Park.

....spend time with family?

Sadly all of my family are in Ireland, in Mayo, so spending time with family is when we holiday over there or spend time with the in-laws - Aaron simply loves his cousins.  Sadly I was meant to take Aaron to Ireland from 17th to 26th May to see my Mum as she has not seen him since August 2011, but due to a drama at work, I cancelled my holiday.  Well, actually, Ryanair does not even let you cancel, so rather we just did not go.... sad, as I do not know now when we will go, although I have to attend a massive family wedding over there in August so hopefully we get to go for that - we shall see.

....socialise with friends?

This is something that really took a back seat due to my post natal depression.   I went into myself.  Days when I felt lonely, rather than pick up the phone to a friend, I would frequent a cafe, where I got to know the owner and she became like my therapist.  I always timed my trips there with Aaron's naps so that we could talk.  There were a lot of regulars there, and I could tell that they were thinking why isn't she off spending time with her friends.  Each visit would cost £10 so the therapy was far from free.

To the point where I have a friend down the road with 2 kids, one the same age as Aaron and yet we had not seen each other since October..... but recently I worked a lot of Fridays and Mondays, so on 25th May I was so thrilled to have a Friday off, we went off and spent the day with them, and it was SUCH a wonderful day I thought why oh why don't I do this more often.  It was made easier by the fact that my PND is now totally gone.  I got rid of it with a spiritual healing and it really really worked, and given that I have had it for nearly 2 years I was tremendously grateful. 

....prepare an evening meal juggling a baby/toddler bedtime routine?

I don't always get time for this.  I feel bad about it so will swiftly move on to the next question, although I did make a yummy dinner for us all yesterday (Monday 4th June) of salmon and veg.

....deep clean your house?

I know some ladies do this when the baby goes to bed but as Aaron goes to bed at 21:30 I often go with him, or soon after, so this is not an option.  A few weeks ago I put Aaron into nursery on a Friday even though I was off and I spent the whole day deep cleaning, to the point where my day was so structured and full on I even had to allocate myself a "lunch break" but deep cleaning and finding the time for it IS tough! and I really don't feel my husband pulls his weight although he is so so quick to criticise!  In fact it is the thing that we most frequently argue over.

....do the food shopping?

The first few months after Aaron was born I used to do really LARGE Tesco online orders for delivery, and cook really often, but it was because my Mum was over from Ireland staying with us for 9 weeks.  I thought my husband would be grateful for the regular meals and fully stocked fridge but one day when discussing it he said it was "extravagant" I never did an online Tesco order again, so now I just grab a few bits day to day when I am out and carry them on the arms of the buggy and no longer do a weekly shop.

....bulk ironing?

I meticulously fold stuff when it comes out of the tumble drier or off the line, and then immediately hang it all up, so no ironing happens in this house.  My husband wears a uniform to work so every day that he works, an hour before he leaves, he can be seen ironing one shirt and trousers, and that's that....

I fold Aaron's vests and PJs like they are going to be sold in a shop, and they are so tightly piled that they press themselves, and everything else is hung.  When I buy his clothes I always ask to keep the hangers.  When dressing him it is lovely to flick through and choose jeans or choose a top.  I'd hate to have to rummage through a pile of baby's clothes.  I love the way I store Aaron's clothes.  It is probably the only area of my motherhood organisation that I can be proud of.

Liska xxx

 
I am going to tag:

Claire at Grumpinator
Jenny at Treading on Lego 
and Kerry at Multiple Mummy

xxx