Simplify

Yes, simplify, simplify.

My coworker once told me that her biggest motherhood regret was that her house was too clean. That really stuck with me.

There are so many demands on my time right now. I have a job that I love but it consumes so much of my time! 40 hours a week of actual work time, 5 hours a week for my lunch break, 10 hours a week commuting, and 5 hours a week getting spiffy-ed up to look presentable. That's right, I spend about 60 hours a week on work. Ugh.

I have an amazing husband and we have both committed to weekly date nights and weekly, ahem, playdates. I, of course, do everything in my power to spend every spare second with magnificent little James. I try to to exercise a few times a week and still like to spend a little time doing things just for me -- a night out with the girls, a stolen episode of Real Housewives, reading a little before bed.

The stuff I hate doing is the rest -- the laundry, the cooking, the cleaning, etc. I simply don't have the time. So, where do I find it? The simple answer is that oftentimes I don't. My floors are dirty and there are most definitely water spots on the bathroom mirror. Someone comes once a month to clean for us, so I at least know that it gets cleaned sometimes, but it's not immaculate.

I only do laundry when it's really time to, meaning that I'm out of clean bras and undies or that James no longer has sleepers in his size. And the cooking, oh the cooking. If there's one thing that I feel guilty about, it's the cooking. I can't tell you the last time I cooked a real, fresh meal. Instead, we're living off gracious leftovers from parents, a crockpot soup here and there, and an occasional good day when we brown up a few pounds of taco meat.

I'd like to say that I'm resolving to do a better job of cooking for my family, but the truth is that I don't know where that time would come from. I just wish there were some little fairy that could come to my house every day around 5 and cook us a healthful scrumptious meal.