On Housekeeping

I remember about a week after we adopted my second son, an infant, I was well aware that the housework and piles of laundry had grown exponentially. As a recovering perfectionist I had already made mental adjustments with my two year-old and thought I was doing quite well with the disarray but the new piles of toys, laundry and dishes put me in altered states. I was trying so hard to enjoy my new sweet baby boy but I was exhausted, short-changing my nap times with clean-up sessions. I finally felt like I was going to blow a gasket and quickly dialed one of my best friends in Tennessee who was also a practicing marriage and family therapist. I relayed to her in bazaar detail the trail of clothing, toys and Sippy cups that littered my hallway. She patiently listened as I paused to wipe my tears in between blurts of explanation about my horrifying, insurmountable scene. Making sure I was out of words and sobs she said, "OK, this is going to be profound are you ready?" I said, "Yes, I'm ready", just sure I was about to get a clinical understanding of the inner workings of my brain and perhaps a prescription I could pick up at the pharmacy for "clutter disturbance" or something. She said, "OK, walk into the hallway and we'll do this together.......Are you ready?.......STEP OVER IT."

We both began laughing uncontrollably and I felt so much better! I asked her if I could call her when I felt I was on shaky ground with that awful, overwhelmed feeling. She said ,"Of course" and I did ! It got me through those tough days! I love ya Bonnie ! MH