How to Get Stuff Done

Now that I have a baby I find that trying to get stuff done around the house is a difficult task.

A cluttered house with stuff every stresses me out. I need to have my bed made, kitchen table and countertop cleared of unnecessary clutter. Otherwise I can't relax.

I used to have this rule that when I was in final exam mode, TheDapperGentleman and I both had to work extra hard to keep the kitchen tidy because that was my studying area. When you live in 625 sqft you don't have the luxury of having a dedicated desk or office for studying. Each space must be multi purposed.

My new trick to getting stuff done is to set goals for the day. When TheLittleBear was only a couple of months old these goals were small. Usually they would be filing down TLB's nails, or combing out her cradle cap.

A couple of months ago I went through a "we have too many books" moment and went through our 3 book cases to removed 30+ books. These books sat in my hallway for 3 or 4 months. I kept procrastinating because every weekend was rainy, and I didn't want to sell and donate books in the rain. Finally, I gave myself the weekend goal of selling these books rain or shine. It totally worked out because I made $84.75 from my old books.

Setting goals and mentally crossing them off when finished feels amazing.

I hope this helps you :)

Hold Your Baby As Much As You Want

I am definitely one of those people who fell into the trap of, "Don't hold your baby too much or you'll spoil him/her and they'll always want to be held."

When TheLittleBear was born I would hold her, but then immediately be scared that I might be spoiling her. I worked on helping her learn to be put down and not held too much.

The thing I realize months later is...

Take Out Chopsticks ;)

TheDapperGentleman and I love take out. It's like a personal chef coming to your house and cooking, then doing all the clean up. All you have to do is sit back and relax. Turn on a movie and wait for deliciousness to happen.

A funny thing always happens when we get take out...

apologizing to my baby

So... 

We've been navigating the waters of biting while nursing.

A friend of mine told me that when her child bit her she made a loud reaction and that scared him enough to never bite her again. Remembering this story, I tried the same tactic. My result was much different. 

The first time TheLittleBear bit me, I was caught off guard and shouted, "Ouch!" I didn't mean to startle TLB or to cause a fuss. I was startled myself. The next couple of times I purposely made a loud fuss hoping she would see the negative reaction to her biting and stop. This was not the case. 

We ended up in a nursing strike because TLB was upset that I was scaring her with my reactions. 

It was hard not to react when sharp little teeth would bite me. 

I should have done my own research and not reacted.

KellyMom has a great article about this. 

I spent a day pumping and coaxing her back to the breast. When that didn't work, I was heartbroken. I truly thought that my breastfeeding days were behind us and I would never share that bond with her again. I wasn't ready. I wasn't ready to end the cuddles. I wasn't ready to not see her cute little face as she nursed. And I wasn't ready to have to clean numerous bottles at the end of the night. 

During a deflated moment when I was changing her diaper, I looked into her eyes and apologized. I apologized for scaring her and not reading up about appropriate reactions. I gave her a hug and a kiss. 

After that moment, things started to turn around. She first let me hold her in our normal nursing position. I started with nursing her to nap (which I never usually do). After that nap she started nursing like usual again. 

I believe that apologizing to her was the key. Sometimes as parents we make mistakes. I think it's important to let our children see that we make mistakes and show them how we fix them. Learning how to handle different situations is more important to me than to have my child think I'm perfect :)