They call any organizing a pregnant woman does “nesting.” Apparently we look like birds building a nest for the coming offspring. I find it interesting and slightly amusing. There is no doubt that a mother-to-be can be motivated to clean and prepare for the baby in a major way. But what is called “spring cleaning” for everyone else is called nesting if you happen to be pregnant.
So I suppose I am officially nesting because I have been working hard on our house. I’ll admit the baby is a major motivation – indirectly and directly. I of course want a nice, clean, well-prepared home when the baby arrives. But I also want the house to be somewhat presentable for the midwife and anyone else who may come to assist after the birth of the baby :p
I’ve also been working on it just because I want a neat and clean home. To my credit I got most of the moving boxes gone within a couple of weeks of moving in. We still have a few around in out-of-the-way spots. But I dislike boxes unless they’re being used for storage. Even with the boxes gone, though, our house was (and is) cluttered.
I do not like clutter. Even if we had a bigger house I still wouldn’t like clutter. And if you move to a bigger place and you have clutter, your clutter just gets bigger too. So I’ve been focusing on some really bad spots and it has really helped. The kids’ room was the first place I got straightened up. Since then I’ve been working mostly on our upstairs landing and some in the bedroom and office.
The house has improved a lot of the past few weeks and I’m really pleased. I still have a lot to do (I haven’t touched the kitchen!) But it’s a lot neater, more open, and functional. If we’re going to have these things, we should be able to use them.
I’ve done all this by working about 30 minutes a day. On the weekends when Scott is here to help me with bigger things we spend a bit more time on it. But I usually work about 30 minutes each weekday and I’ve been surprised at how much gets done and how satisfied I feel with it. There’s still a bunch to do and the never-ending mountain of paperwork to take care of. But every week the house is looking better, and I’m able to take care of household paperwork faster and more efficiently (I mostly work through papers and budget issues on Fridays, and each Friday it has been a little easier as I’ve tackled the backlog).
So if you’re “nesting” and want to organize your house give short increments a go. It’s good for the first and third trimesters when your energy may be lower. And it’s great because you see definite progress towards your goal but you don’t get so overwhelmed that you quit altogether!
