I was a bit of a tomboy growing up, so I really didn’t know how to manage a household. Looking back on it, it’s hilarious now.  It really wasn’t funny at the time. I knew to clean the floors, bathroom and kitchen. I knew how to run laundry with a pre-baby level of soiling. I could certainly cook, but cooking with a baby is a little different. So, the house looked clean. It took a while to figure out that running our clothes on, “normal” cycle with just detergent was not going to clean a garment dripping with vomit. A lot of food ended up under-cooked. I would remember to turn the fire off to go tend to my son, but wouldn’t necessarily be able to tell how much longer food needed to be cooked afterwards.

I’m embarrassed to admit that I actually had to buy a book to learn. I would google topics here and there, but I was missing so much information that the bits and pieces I picked up searching the internet just didn’t fill the gaps. I learned ALL appliances have to be cleaned, and have manuals detailing the directions. I was surprised to learn that the devices charged with washing our dishes and clothes didn’t manage to clean themselves in the process. I had never cooked enough to need to clean the oven before moving, but that was quickly changing. A whole new world of information opened up to me, and suddenly I had a lot of work to do that I didn’t even know existed. I’m so happy I did it, but that first month was hard.

Since then, I’ve transitioned completely away from paper products in the kitchen. I just started to phase in cloth diapers. I’m giving my husband the option of not using them and continuing with disposables since there’s a learning curve, but I’m hoping he’ll come around in the next couple months and we’ll phase out disposables entirely. My house isn’t spotless, but it is clean. It took me part of Winter and most of Spring to do my Spring cleaning, but it did get done. You know the best part? Ordering pizza is an option, not THE plan for dinner. Thank god for leftovers.

I would love to hear about your journey making the transition to motherhood, whether or not you’re staying at home with your child.