The last week has been nothing short of a whirlwind. Last Tuesday I posted how I was scrambling to finish up everything at work and home so that I could go on a three-day work trip to D.C. “Scrambling” is putting it nicely. On Tuesday alone I was served with a Rule to Show Cause on one of my cases, needed to get all of my other cases in order for me to be gone, had an “emergency” dental appointment to fix a filling that I lost while flossing, and needed to pack for my trip. Somehow I managed to do everything, except pay attention to my actual travel plans. When my plane changed gates (which was not reflected on my smart phone boarding pass), I had to look at the departure boards to figure out where I was supposed to be. It was only then that I realized, not only did I not know my flight number, I also did not know whether I was flying to Regan National or Dulles. That’s how harried I’d been.
Despite the rough start, the trip to D.C. went well. The conference was interesting and I had enough “free” time to see a bunch of cool D.C. sites. I also got to spend a bunch of time with my brother who works for a company with a D.C. office and who flew out to meet me. I met some of his friends, hung out at some of the hot spots and just generally got to have fun when not at work. But I did miss Husband and the kids. And I caught a cold. So when Friday came around, I was more than ready to be home.
But when I got home, I realized nothing had been done in my absence. Yes, the kids were still alive and the house was not a mess. But no progress had been made on anything. Husband had simply gone into survival mode. The laundry I had washed on Tuesday night was still in the basket. Three days’ worth of mail was piled on the counter top. The diaper basket was out of diapers. Even the kids’ bath toys were still filled with water from their bath the night before. Everywhere I looked there was another task to be done just to catch up with our already overly-scheduled life.
My happiness at being home quickly dissipated. I had more to do now than ever.
Our home is already a collection of half-finished projects. From missing fence posts to unpainted grills from the great window replacement project of 2007, we have plenty of things that need to be done. On top of that, new things keep piling on - like buying big girl furniture for Sweet Pea and planting the side of our yard. But how can I address the new projects when I can't even catch up with the old? And how do I impress upon Husband that I need him to take some initiative and just get some things done - without my pointing them out and nagging them to completion?
How does you family get things done around the house? Do you send the kids to grandma’s so that you can do your landscaping? Do let the kids help you paint? Do you shame your Husband into doing projects every night after work? Or is your house a collection of half-finished projects, like mine?
Karen
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