Stuff (and nonsense?)

WHY is there so much STUFF and WHY won't it stay where I put it? How come I end up with clothes everywhere, socks stuffed into every crevice and a never ending trail of washing and dirty mugs?

Oh wait I know.....

...one certain wriggly toddler type, tearing through the house like a tornado and constantly demanding attention.

"Babies LOVE watching their mummies doing things around the house," my mum said confidently. Well, no one seems to have told my baby and a straw poll of friends with babies of similar ages suggests likewise, or at least if the above statement is true, my mum has got selective mum-amnesia whereby she means that either very little babies not into arguing like watching things like the washing machine or much older toddlers who want to help. Wriggles falls nicely in the middle, in the stage that cannot be left alone for a millisecond otherwise the soap dish ends up down the toilet or she is taking things out the bin, one by one. She doesn't always want me to play with her, but she wants me to be in the background hovering just in case or to show me her new achievements ("since when could you climb up onto the sofa...?!").

"It's a case of showing them who is boss."

Right. Yes, I can see that. Sort of. Except that while you are showing them who is boss, the washing still isn't getting done and you have gone from playing with the messy child to actively provoking arguments with them in the intention that it may buy you some housework time. Or am I going wrong somewhere...? 

I suspect that this is a phase like all the other tiring phases that will pass to be replaced with a new irritating/exhausting/delightful phase like every other time. The sort of phase where it would be really good if there was two of you (or at least two pairs of hands) and you could dredge up some energy from somewhere to either a) do the washing and b) care about doing the washing (washing is interchangeable with picking thing off the floor/hoovering/folding fold-able things/brushing your hair/making dinner that is not just cheese on toast/finding a matching pair of socks/returning phone calls/leaving the house). However much I tidy and try to organise, within days it is back to looking like someone has gleefully chucked things to all four corners or brimming with piles of things removed from floor level to high up....oh wait, that is what happened. 

Now just to find the strength to go back to square one and start all over.