Giving myself a break

Sometimes you need a break. Sometimes, as much as I love making and managing my to do lists, and as much as I enjoy the productivity that comes with never sitting down, you have to sit down. I have to sit down.

So this week I'm letting myself off the hook.

We're eating off of paper plates because I am sick to death of constantly doing dishes. It never ends. Seriously, we need a dishwasher the size of our bathroom.

We're eating really (really) easy meals. I love to cook but it does add an element of busyness to our evenings that I don't always relish. And it adds to the above point of creating more dishes. This is our menu for the week. I estimate I'll dirty approximately one dish cooking the asparagus and one other cooking the mac and cheese. Two dishes that will go directly into the dishwasher that I will not wash by hand even though it would be much more efficient.

It's amazing how knowing that I don't have to cook but merely "prep" dinner immediately calms me. I know I won't have to rush around and attempt to keep the kids happy while I put together a dinner that I don't even eat because I'm so busy trying to clean up the kitchen while they eat. Instead, I'm going to sit and eat with them and then throw my un-environmentally friendly dishes directly into the trash. I hope the crunchy hippie Gods forgive me.

I'm also not cleaning this week. Not at all. I will straighten up because I truly cannot function in a cluttered environment, but I will not clean any more than is absolutely necessary. I will wipe the kitchen counters and table and I will clean if a mess occurs (what am I saying- when a mess occurs) but I will not clean the showers, mop the floors, or spend my evening dusting.

I'm not doing any laundry. I'm letting our nanny do it all today.

If I'm tired and I want to sit and relax with Madelyn I'm going to let her watch Tinkerbell and feel no guilt whatsoever. She's happy, I'm happy, no harm done.

And you know how I'm going to spend my evenings? I'm going to sit on my butt and watch TV. I'm going to finally catch up on my overflowing DVR, spend some time with my favorite reality stars, light a candle, drink red wine, and relax.

What a novel concept.