Spring Cleaning and Nesting

I've entered that lovely part of pregnancy known as the third trimester. It's the wonderful time where my belly continues to swell and I put on weight at an average of a pound a week, want to eat everything in sight but also get heartburn as soon as anything goes in my mouth. Third trimester means even more pressure on my bladder, even fever hours of sleep, even more sciatic nerve pain, fewer positions that are comfortable.

Third trimester also means nesting. I've had my spring cleaning lists ready for weeks and had a pretty good start on it but somewhere in the last couple of weeks I lost my ability to keep up with my heathen spawn and the disasters left in their wake.

Unfortunately, nesting for me has never been the awesome energy and ability to organize everything and have a spotless house. Rather, I have an obsession with particular things, usually involving sanitation. With my firstborn the obsession was clean carpets, second time around it was scrubbing countertops with bleach, third time it was baking soda and vinegar. This time I've been repeatedly using Pledge on my kitchen table, and I can't exit the bathroom without spraying Windex or Scrubbing Bubbles on something.

So my house is a mess. There's laundry piled up and spilling over, food crumbs on the floor, kids toys covering every surface...and the only thing I can find energy to do is get out a step ladder and my trusty old Pledge and clean the ceiling fan. I'm really good at cleaning the things that people don't notice. After cleaning the fan I took the cushions off of the sofa and vacuumed the crevices. After that I wiped down the inside of my freezer (where my husband accidentally left an unopened Dr Pepper, and it exploded.)

My house is filthy, and I can hear the perfect supermoms out there right now wanting to recommend ways I can prioritize my cleaning. I'll stop you there, it won't work. Nesting is like OCD for me. I physically feel too exhausted to get up and clean something that I don't want to clean. My brain is set to only have a miraculous energy boost if I suddenly feel the desire to say, smell toilet cleaner. Then I'd be up and scrubbing the porcelain throne for an hour. At 2:00 in the morning I might have an uncontrollable need to get up and dab rubbing alcohol on an ink stain. Once and only once did I ever have the desire to put my nesting energy toward laundry. My husband will probably remember that because it was a Sunday afternoon shortly before my third child was born and I spend several hours going through practically every bit of laundry in the house.

I wish I was one of those people who could drink coffee and feel energized. Coffee makes me sleepy. When I want a cup I am more likely to be seen drinking it at night than in the morning. Sometimes I'll make it in the morning, but those days I usually end up taking a nap if I can manage it. I'm not a morning person. I'm not one of those moms who wakes up before the kids do and has blissful quiet time while they are still asleep. I can't get my house sparkling clean listening to the birds chirping in the first hour of sunlight. I'm the mom that stays in bed until my toddler is up. If he is up I have to be up, or he'll be swinging from my freshly polished ceiling fan.

For now I'm pooped. I am staring at a bag of frozen peas that I forgot to put back in the freezer after wiping it down and I am debating how long I can let it sit out before I'd have to throw it away because I am just that worn out. I'm thankful today is sunny and warm outside because my offspring have chosen to play in the backyard. All I had to do was open the box of sidewalk chalk. If staying in this same position wouldn't result in feeling like I sat on a knitting needle in a while I'd probably be able to fall asleep right here. Nevermind, the kids read my mind and they've just stormed back inside. Might as well put those peas away...