House counseling?

The house honeymoon is over

Well, the house honeymoon has been over for about a year now, when I really think about it. I realized this the other day as I kept procrastinating taking Kaylee home one night from my parent’s house. I procrastinated so long that she ended up having a total melt-down of exhaustion.

I figured I was just lonely. Scott works late/long hours and I’m tired, so I like having help from the parents and being able to take one mental step back from being super vigilant. But then I had another day where I left my parent’s house early, and in great spirits. Kaylee and I sang the whole way home, and I was in a great mood.

Until I opened the house door. I think that was when I realized that I am no longer in love with my house. But it’s not my house’s fault, it’s what is in the house. Not only has my house descending into CHAOS (Can’t Have Anyone Over Sydrome), but it’s become to the point where I don’t want to be there.

Here’s what happens in the first 15 minutes of getting home…

Get out of the car, hear dog barking (sigh, I’m so sick of the dog barking).

Get Kaylee out of the car seat and walk inside with her on my hip.

Open the door, get the lovely whiff of dog pee and poop because the dog has, again, peed or pooped all over the place. As a result of the last year of this she is now confined to the laundry room, so while the mess is contained, the smell is just amplified by the smaller quarters.

Let the dog out of her room, curse as she barrels into me and throws out my knee. She then stops in the doorjam and just stands there.

The cat has heard the door open, so I am now left trying to keep the cat from running outside, while holding the kid, while trying to push the dog out of the door.

Finally the dog is out, the cat is in, and the kid is still with me (now I can put her down at least, and she will normally hang out in the garage playing with some toys we have set up for her in there).

The dog tries to attack another dog/running/shadow that has come within 100 yards of our house. I grab her and get her back inside.

The cat makes another attempt to run outside as the dog decides that doorways are scary, and refuses to walk through it.

Okay. Now we’re all inside the house. I put Kaylee down in her safe room so that I can clean up the pee/poop and feed the dog. She throws a huge tantrum because I’ve been at work all day and she wants mom time.

Finally, the crap has been cleaned, the animals fed, and I am able to have some kid time.

But after the 15 minutes of craziness, I don’t even want to be in my house. I don’t want to have to look at the stuff I need to clean, or the laundry that needs to get done, or the dinner that needs to be cooked. I’m tired from working all day, tired from the long commute, and tired of feeling like I’m doing all I can but getting nowhere. Add to it that I now have a headache from dealing with the last 15 minutes, and knowing that I will have to do it the next day, and the next, and the next.

So my answer is to just avoid my house. Because that totally solves the problem…