Some women clean between their floorboards with a toothbrush when they are pregnant. My nesting is taking other forms, even though I wish fastidious cleaning would come upon me like a compulsion.
When we moved into this house in October, I was too sick to do a deep clean, or anything other than wipe things down and start unpacking. Now, at the end of my second trimester energy, I am suddenly nesting like crazy. I am hanging up pictures and unpacking knick-knacks, arranging and re-arranging, organizing, making messes and cleaning them up.
I am a very organized person. I am really driven to have everything sorted and organized before baby arrives, because I don't know how long it will be before I will be able to do it again. If there isn't a clear place for everything and hubby and kiddies are responsible for keeping it sorted...well, it's just better if everything is organized.
We are living in the largest house we've ever been in. We got rid of a lot of stuff when we moved, and even though we bought a lot upon arriving, we still need some key pieces to fill this place and make it homey. The cold and rainy weather makes me think of fall and winter, when we'll be cuddling in and the house needs to be a warm embrace from the blustery winds. Since I anticipate spending A LOT of time at home, post baby's birth, I want it to be a place I love. I do love the bones of this place, but like I said, it needs padding.
So the toothbrush-in-the-floorboards form of nesting for me looks like checking Craigslist, Gumtree (like Craigslist), Freecycle and Ebay, over and over again, all day long. I've driven all over picking things up (mostly free!), and feel like I'm always on the hunt. Last weekend one of my girlfriends took me antique/junk shopping. We spent the whole day in tiny shops filled with treasures, and had lunch in a great cafe in Newtown. Hot Pumpkin Risotto while the rain poured outside, and no children to look after or wanting to eat my food; it was a perfect day.
This week I realized that first my mother and then my mother-in-law will be coming to stay after baby arrives. So, not only does the house have to be cozy for me, but it needs to be perfect for them! My mom is the kind of person who will have the best bedding on the guest bed, with tiny bouquets of flowers on the pillows and towels in the bathroom. She is a serious hostess in the most wonderful way. So of course, I want to treat my mother the same! But I don't have a mattress cover or sheets that fit my Australian standard queen guest bed, or a wardrobe for the guest room. I'm trying to restrain myself to work on one room at a time, but I just want to do everything!
Then, the other manic obsession is collecting things for baby, as I got rid of most of my baby stuff before coming. My friends here are having a shower for me in April, but I am still trying to sort out most of the stuff on my own. I spend a really ridiculous amount of time thinking about the sling-stroller-carseat situation, as getting out and about is challenging here, let alone with three and a c-section recovery.
Last night I told the Captain "I wonder when my body will stop this nesting stuff, because it is really starting to wear me out!". And I haven't even gotten into the window of time where it makes sense to do the deep clean and start putting meals in the freezer! Maybe I'll slow down later, but right now I'm off to check Freecycle and to clean up the bookcase I picked up this morning (in the rain, by myself, big 'ole pregnant belly), and check the directions for the lamps I am buying tonight!
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