breaks and laundry

[same_sky]

I need a Mommy break. M asked me what I wanted for my birthday and I told him a babysitter. Ha! Like that would happen. The only person who has ever kept Evelyn is my mom. She does keep her occasionally so M and I can go somewhere by ourselves, but since she's 90 miles away, it just doesn't work out very well to drop her off for the day. When we get together she usually wants to see me too.. if at a lesser degree of importance than Evelyn. :) I don't want to actually find a babysitter right now. I just want a break sometimes. I want to sleep as late as I want---no, first, I want to stay up as late as I want, and THEN sleep as late as I want. Then I want to check the internet before showering, and then have breakfast with my book. I want the entire morning to take care of some paperwork, and the afternoon to play. I want to go shopping without getting Evelyn in and out of the car a thousand times and getting distracted by how whiny she is or making sure she has crackers or leaving before I'm ready. I want to get my eyebrows done, and shop for clothes that fit. I want to have dinner somewhere delicious, or even at home because I can cook something without enlisting the cooperation from an irrational human being. I also want to clean my house without said cooperation. And... I know, I know. I am running out of time in this one little day, but if I am daydreaming, then I should be allowed to dream big. The worst part is that this dream could happen. Say, for example, E could go spend the night with my parents. But the thought of her being away from me for so long is just... wrong. I don't really want her to be somewhere else. I just want a break. In two years, the longest I have ever gone without baby care responsibility is four hours. I think that's happened twice. Bah. I go in spells with this. Actually, I am feeling much better just by writing this because she has been playing well by herself, both in her room and in the computer room with me, and I have had a minute to breathe. Toddler care is mentally exhausting sometimes. I mean... it gets boring to keep them engaged in whatever's going on.

In other news, I am feeling guilty because I just totally ruined one of Evelyn's little dresses. It's too short for her this spring anyway but I was debating whether or not she could wear it as a shirt, but when I pulled it out of the closet, it was covered with stains. I don't understand how things are stain-free when they go in the closet and then I wait a few months and look at them again, and they're all stained up. Lots of her baby clothes did that, though in that case, I think it was spit-up that turned all nice and yellow. She was a very spit-uppy baby. These are food stains but I can't imagine hanging it back up like that. Anyway, I have like six or seven items with bitchy stains in the laundry room, going through endless cycles of stain-treating, washing, sunning, soaking, washing, etc. I got impatient this afternoon and broke out the bleach. Bye bye dress! The truth is that I wouldn't have risked it if I honestly thought it had a chance otherwise, so I know it's no real loss, but this way is relatively unrecoverable (I might have luck bleaching the whole thing... but I am doubting that will work out.) I had hope before. The other items I scrubbed bleach into were whiteish so we'll see how they turn out, but I'm not expecting significant damage at the least, and hopefully I'll be able to get rid of at least a few of those obnoxious items from my laundry room drying rack.

You know, I used to think I was really good at laundry stains. Apparently, I thought that only before I had a kid to stain-treat for. Or maybe I just had more time to work on them and fewer items and therefore more patience when I did. It drives me crazy that I'm the only one that gives a crap about getting her clothes dirty when there's something messy going on. I mean, sure, let her be a kid but for Pete's sake, take measures to prevent stains. I'm just saying. No one else is volunteering to scrub my laundry for me so I don't see why they get to laugh about how dirty her clothes get.

Well, that was unexpected. I had no idea I had so much pent-up laundry frustrations. Or so much frustration in general.

I am letting the munchkin play in her room (across the hall) while I type this. She's stomping around in a pair of boots. I have let her dress herself today, since she kept taking off the perfectly sensible matching outfit I put her in this morning. For most of the day, she wore a bright orange Halloween shirt with black sleeves, and a pair of white, pink and pastel blue capris. A few minutes ago, she insisted on disrobing and putting on a pair of bright orange capris that she found, but don't worry--she didn't keep on the orange shirt to coordinate! She said, "Elmo--pink! Elmo--pink!" several times when I asked her if she wanted to wear the matching dress that went with the capris. I finally figured out that she wanted to wear the pink Elmo shirt that was located in her closet, in another room, that she hasn't worn in weeks and therefore why would she even be thinking about it? It looks crazy.. but at least it's not stained...

Comments

[grain-damaged.livejournal.com]

Oh man. I could've written that first paragraph - easy. I will have to say however that I have had an overnight break twice. It was nice but really weird and kind of stressful when I thought about her and if she was having fun at Grandmas or Aunties and if she missed her Mama. On the other hand. Staying up, sleeping in, eating out, efficiency of action (getting in and out of the car in *seconds* not minutes. lol) thinking clearly, talking on the phone without interruption... all quite blissful. I recommend it. Maybe you can go to your Mom's, drop off the kid and just stay in a nearby hotel? I know that sounds kinda corny but you'd get a break and if anything went amiss, you'd be super close. Anyway I hope you can get a break - Mama's NEED them! Can M take her for the afternoon some weekend? I'd come over and watch her for you but sadly we're too far apart... maybe some day?

Have you tried Oxyclean? It's a hydrogen peroxide based cleaner. LOVE IT. It gets out all kinds of stains. Brilliant stuff that. There's both a prewash spray and a liquid (color-safe bleach) that you add to the laundry. I use both.

We have a little stuffed chair for Sophie that she decided to eat blueberries on and use as a napkin. It was green originally, and after the blueberry incident it was green with navy spots! But I sprayed it and washed it once - came out perfectly new looking. I can't tell you how many items of clothing I've saved using it.

[same-sky.livejournal.com]

I am getting much closer to it being okay that she would stay away overnight, but it still feels wrong. I have considered the hotel plan. With a pool. My parents would think I was insane though. Also, I want to be at home for optimum break time.

M takes her shopping sometimes, which usually keeps me relatively caught up on break time. Our goal is that he goes somewhere with her once a week.. usually, it's the Sunday shopping. (Has to be on Sunday because that's when I have to buy newspapers!) He said last night that perhaps next weekend, he should take her out of town shopping for the afternoon so I can have a more extended break. That sounds nice and all but if he's going shopping, I want to go! I miss him too so I hate to be apart from him on the weekends. I don't know. We'll see, I guess.

I am a big believer in Oxyclean too! Might I warn you that certain white fabrics, if sprayed with Oxyclean and then allowed to sit (possibly in the sun) for a while before washing will not actually get any better, but will turn a terrible, terrible yellow that is nearly impossible to remove? It's happened to three of her shirts now.. the last two at the same time. Ahh, well, it does so well on so many things that I forgive it. I like the spray bottle too but also have the powder for some purposes. I usually use it as my first line of attack against organic types of stains... food, etc. It's also my favorite for greasy things. Yay Oxyclean! I have loved it ever since it got coffee stains out of the seat belts of a car I had just bought. I am happy to hear from another fan. I'm not sure why. :)

[grain-damaged.livejournal.com]

The whites that you put in the sun probably had optical whiteners added to them, which would I guess stain. Maybe after adding the Oxyclean keep them out of the sun?
I love that you love it too. Yay - laundry geeks unite!