A Mother Bird And Her Nest

I don’t know if it’s nesting (an impulse I’ve never had in previous pregnancies) or what, but for the past while I’ve felt a compelled to clean, cook and housekeep in general. And amazingly I’ve had the energy to do it.

Actually, I’ve had energy to spare. I’ve even been feeling a bit fidgety and restless. I think Alexander may be on the verge of dying from shock as a result of my recent accomplishments.

I’ve had dinner on the table everyday for nearly two weeks now. This does not typically happen during my pregnancies. Typically, I can’t stand the smell of food let alone the thought of cooking it while pregnant. But lately, I’ve been almost unstoppable. I’ve even handled raw chicken – something I normally prefer to leave up to Alexander even when not pregnant. (I’m kind of scaring myself, actually.)

Then there’s the cleaning thing. I’ve been doing laundry like there’s no tomorrow. Fortunately, my drive to do insane amounts of laundry is supported by my children’s ability to create insane amounts of laundry. See how well we work together? And I haven’t stopped at merely doing the laundry either. I’ve gone so far as to actually fold the loads I’ve done. Our laundry room looks positively deserted. And Alexander no longer has to stumble downstairs in the morning to retrieve his clothes. They’re put away. In his dresser.

I’ve also been doing dishes – sinks and sinks full. Despite what it does to my hands. I just can’t stop.

Then today, as I contemplated on the state of my house, I realized that the general disorder was beginning to wear on me. We moved back in December, but we’ve still not unpacked completely. Does that ever really happen? I decided today it would for us.

So after cleaning up the living room (because with all this motherly industriousness of late the kids have had to occupy themselves doing something), I decided to tackle the spare room closet. This is where all the suitcases and boxes that we just didn’t have a need/desire to unpack right away ended up. This is also where we’ll be putting the new baby in a few months (the spare room, not the closet), so I figured it was just an all around good idea to get it straightened up.

After several hours and five suitcases, I’ve finally worn myself out. For the moment, anyway. But then there was the matter of blogging. And dinner still needs to be fixed. And there’s the task of putting away the rest of our treasures I unearthed today. And if I hunt hard enough in corners and under beds, I could probably scare up another load or three of laundry that need doing.

Hopefully, the housekeeping to be done will hold out as long as my current compulsion to do it does. But I’m not too worried about that. Somehow, I have a feeling it will actually outlast me.