Confessions — Cutting Mommy Corners

So on this Thursday morning, the last day of January (Praise God!), I’m going to list 5 things that I do to cut corners on a somewhat regular basis.  It’s a hard time of year right now.  Days are short, and the darkness and cold and grey skies seem never ending.  Kids are sick.  Moms and Dads are sick.  And while we live in a rather large house, every winter it feels just a little bit smaller.

The builders have been e-mailing each other in the past few weeks, and these e-mails have titles like, “I want to run away,” or “I’m not whining, but…”  So yeah, it’s THAT time of year.

And in honor of THAT time of year, I’m going to list 5 things I do to cheat on a regular basis.  These aren’t things that I have skipped once, or twice, or on a rare occasion when life is crazy.  These are things I often or almost always choose to not do.  I’m sure you have things like this.  So here’s your chance to join in and admit it publicly in the comments.  Corner cutters of the world unite!!! and take February by storm.

Things that I choose not to do on a very regular basis–

1)  Make beds.  If we are not having company (almost every day), EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. of our beds remains unmade.  Sometimes the kids will feel like playing a cleaning game and they make some beds.  I am shocked and delighted at this, but is has never inspired me to actually take the time to make my own bed or ask them to make theirs.  I don’t go upstairs often during the day, so for me, this is easy to ignore.

2)  Go to the Dentist every 6 months.  I know, some of you think this is super gross.  And yes, I hate the dentist.  I’d rather visit the OB than the dentist.  I have issues and I’m probably passing these on to my children.  Fortunately, Mr. Red has beautiful teeth and just loves to go to the dentist and have them compliment his beautiful teeth and oral hygiene, so at least he is setting a good example of dental pride.  But for me, I just can’t stand having someone scrape at things in my mouth, and yes, as a child, every time I went to the dentist or orthodontist, I left in pain.  I try really hard to take my kids once a year, but if I’m honest, it’s more like every 18 months.

3)  Dry Dishes.  When I wash pots and pans by hand, I let them air dry on our stove top for about 1 minutes (the time it takes me to clean the next pot), and then I put them away wet.  The only time I dry dishes is when my mother is here.

4)  Give my toddlers a bath.  I have delegated this task to my older children.  I oversee it at least once every week or two to make sure the kids are really getting cleaned, but it’s pretty much a free for all up in that bathroom after dinner.

5)  Tuck in my older children.  Once you are big enough to stay up past 8pm, you are big enough to put yourself to bed, read your own story, and brush your own teeth.  I sit with my butt on the sofa and simply say goodnight to my older two kids.  And sometimes, I bribe my younger children to allow the older kids to tuck them in.  I hate a long bedtime routine because by 7pm I’m ready for my work to be finished.

This list could be longer.  These are just the first 5 things that popped into my head.  Anyone else want to confess?