I had roped an old friend of almost 10 years to teach me tennis in exchange for dinner. After tennis, he came over to collect his dues. He is those rare sort of men that would actually insist on doing the cleaning up in exchange for preparing his dinner. So while he was washing up, perhaps tuckered out from a long day and tennis, I did my usual ranting on how hard it was being a mom and a home maker. Went on telling how hopelessly useless my hubs was when it came to helping me with the house chores.
Well, this dear friend of mine then said, he imagined it is a lot of work and my husband really should help me out. However you make it sound like it's impossible to accomplish when the fact is, it's not. Huh? WTF is this man rambling about? Told him he wouldn't last a week if he was in my shoes. he smirked and said maybe, but at least he'd be more organized and disciplined about tackling the problem. Seriously, I love this friend to death but at that moment, I had really wanted to give him a good kick at his derrier!
Then with an antagonizing know-it-all look then men have, he pointed out that my real problem wasn't my husband or the kids. It was actually me. My real problem was is that I am a procrastinator.
I've always known I was a procrastinator but being called a procrastinator to my face wasn't the most pleasant of experience. Hmph! I'll show him!
So the next morning, I woke up really early and after fixing the breakfast for the children, I started to tackle my overwhelming house chores problem. I started by reorganizing the DVDs, moved to arranging my photo albums and just went on and on. Ended with two huge bags of garbage and a seriously well organized home. I even discovered that I actually did have space. Lots and lots of empty spaces! I even had an extra bedroom now!
After getting rid of the trash, I confronted my laundry. 3 huge piles that needed pressing and folding and a large basket that needed ironing. After 10 hours of non-stop house work (not to mention of almost starving my kids to death as I had forgotten to prepare their lunch. They didn't dare to interrupt me as they saw how determined I was to get my job done, they just snacked on biscuits and fruits all day long to avoid facing my wrath. Poor babies! :P)
Now I am feeling quite blessed. I have no laundry woes. Ironed shirts and blouses hanging neatly in the wardrobes. Pile ups in the sink is practically none existence and my house now looks immaculate! (Well, almost...I do have 3 kids after that all! He he.)
I have made a vow to myself to procrastinate no more. If I see a used glass, I will make myself wash it immediately. If the kids makes a mess, I will quickly pick up after them or make them clean up that very instance. I will do the laundry every day and fold the clothes before it starts piling up. I will start barking at my husband and hover around him until he washes that single plate that he had just used. This whole no procrastination process does require more effort on my part, but in the long run it does make my life much easier in the long run.
So far its been 5 days since I last procrastinated and hope over time, it will become my usual habit. If my dear friend didn't point out my problem, I guess I would still be in denial that I had a problem (or could this turnaround be me in denial? Hmm..something to ponder on...). I really should thank this man for helping out...but then being a man, he'd probably be all smug about it. I know, I'll just fix him a nice dinner and then consider that we are even. Yup that's definitely what I'll do. At least, if I find myself relapsing...at least he'll never know. That's dignity for me! Ha ha!:P
No comments:
Post a Comment