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How to Stay Sane While Selling a Home and Raising Young Kids

My daughter and I at the National Aviary

A working mom's schedule is sacrosanct. And nothing disrupts it like trying to sell a house (especially if you're also rehabbing another house at the same time). If it hasn’t been said before I’ll say it now, “It is hell trying to sell a house while you are living in it with two young children.” I am not being dramatic. It is the truth.

Without boring you with details and violating my new pledge not to be passive aggressive, I will say, there are a variety of reasons why we haven’t yet sold our house yet. We tried to sell it all summer and it is under contract, but it appears that contract will fall through. So, we showed the house today.

Trying to Sell a House with Two Small Children is Stressful


Getting it ready was exhausting. To be fair, Andre did the lion share of the work. However, he left some things undone. It wasn’t unfair, but of course when he left, the baby woke up and refused to go to sleep for awhile and only wanted to be held, when he calmed down he wound up falling while cruising, which led to more crying, and the preschooler just wanted to hang out and party, making it kind of hard for me to clean.

Eventually, I got everything done and took a shower. The realtor came in about 20 minute early asking whether I was ready. I’m a mom of two under five. Hell no I wasn’t ready. I was naked and I needed every moment. So, I yelled down, "NO!" and began getting dressed and tried to coach my four year old about how to get herself ready. It wasn't nearly as easy to do as it sounds. 

And then, there was the baby who was napping and started crying when the realtor yelled up. He had to get dressed too.

I had to leave the house without any makeup. Enough said about that.

If Showing Your House You And Need a Place to Go, Try the National Aviary 


We finally made it to the National Aviary, a Pittsburgh treasure. My daughter used to go a lot when she was a toddler so she was glad to be back.


The birds were gorgeous. It's also warm in there, a great tropical escape from the cold.



We enjoyed the visit, but at the end, the baby was done with staying in the stroller. He was really good, until he wasn't. I think this is when he started to get annoyed.



Mommy for the Win


He started screaming bloody murder. When I took him out of the stroller he started flexing and refusing to get in. He was also screaming. I think they were ready to pay us to leave. His sister was saying persistently, "I don’t want to leave mommy!” I understand how parents lose it. The scrutiny. The escalating cries. The stress. It’s enough to make you scream. However, I can’t very well be a successful blogger and coach who provides advice to others and yell at her kids in public though, can I???

So, I dug deep. I mustered all of my strength, calm, and resolve. I packed up that stroller. Put on the toddler's coat and dressed up the baby. I made the toddler march to the car while I carried that baby like a bag of potatoes out the door, while ignoring his cries. After all, he wasn't hurt, hungry, or tired. He was just annoyed. And my life has taught me that you should always ignore the tantrums of the irrational!


So, I left the Aviary without yelling at anybody, but jeez Louise! After all of that, I needed a glass of wine!

Mommy for the win!!!


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