Way back when I first started Mommy Shorts, I also started a blog called “The Mommy Project”. It was kind of a lifestyle/design blog which was supposed to feature beautiful toys, furnishings, and inspiring stories of moms who, ummm…. designed beautiful toys and furnishings.
Sounds really boring, right?
Yeah, I abandoned it after about a month when I realized writing Mommy Shorts was way more fun. And it’s a good thing, because my beautiful well-designed life is not so beautifully well-designed anymore.
Thanks, Mazzy.
The last photo I posted on “The Mommy Project” was of my bed (see up top). Isn’t it lovely? Here are two more views of my fabulous bedroom.
Notice the lack of toys cluttering the floor. Notice the lack of milk stains on the sheets. Notice that the bed is made and not just in some half-assed way where there are actually pajama bottoms, assorted remotes, stuffed animals and a used tissue lurking underneath the duvet.
Now ask me how often that bed has been made in the past two years since this picture was taken. I’ll give you hint. It’s not made now, nor was it made yesterday,or the day before that. We don’t even do the pseudo half-assed bed-making anymore. What’s the point?
The first thing Mazzy does in the morning is pull our duvet off the bed so she can make a “nest” (she pronounces it “mest”) on the floor in front of the television. Then at some point, she gets into our bed and builds what she calls “pillow houses”— literally ripping the pillows out from under our heads and placing them on top of us. She is not satisfied until we are completely buried. After that, she demands that we build a “pillow house” around her, leaving us with nothing.
By the time we all get up to start our day, the bedroom looks like this:
Notice how the “sweet dreams” on the chalkboard above the bed has been half wiped off. Notice the growing pile of Mike’s clothes on the left. Notice the oversized pregnancy pillow which doesn’t even have a pillowcase. Notice the yellowish nature of the purple sheet that looks like we might have peed on it. (I promise, we did not.)
I’d like to say that we reorganize the pillows and make sure the blanket is back on the bed before we go to work, but I would be lying. We barely do that before we get into bed at night.
I’m actually more embarassed by the state of our bedroom than I am about the state of our living room/toy storage area/stroller parking lot. So today, I will say to you all, I am going to make a resolution.
I am going to start making the bed again.
At least making the bed in the pseudo half-assed variety.
Did I say today? I meant TOMORROW.
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THE COOLEST BIKE ON THE BLOCK GIVEAWAY
So far, I have been more than impressed by your entries to the Early Rider balance bike giveaway sponsored by Piccolini (an adorable toy shop in lower Manhattan).
I asked for ideas for Piccolini’s next window display. Best idea wins the bike and the window actually gets executed.
I’m a little surprised that creativity scared so many people off from entering— so far there are only 22 entries. Or maybe everyone is taking their sweet time so they can come up with a really inspired idea?
You have until September 6th to enter— keep ’em coming!
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SUMMER PHOTO ALBUM SUBMISSIONS
Periodically, I ask for photo submissions to make a captioned fan photo album. You can see examples of fan photo albums here. Today, I’m looking for pictures of your kids at the beach and the pool. Funny, cute, ridiculously scared of the ocean— whatever you got. I thought it would be the perfect way to close out the summer. Can you believe the summer is almost over??
Submit your photos with your kid’s first name by posting them on the wall of the Mommy Shorts facebook fanpage. Or you can email them directly to me at ilana@mommyshorts.com. Album will be posted next Friday.
Have a good weekend, with what little summer we have left!
— Mommy Shorts
I’m impressed the chalkboard is even there still!
I promise. Making the bed will make you feel better. I always make the bed and when I come to bed at night I feel relieved and happy that I can get into a unmessy bed.
This is EXACTLY why I read blogs. SO I know that I am NOT alone. 🙂
My nanny makes bed for us when my daughter takes her nap.
Yes I am lucky but it is part of light house keeping which is on her job description.
Fresh made bed every night!
Ask your nanny if she does light house keeping.
I like to make the bed. Sometimes I do it in the morning, sometimes I do it right before I get in. Studies show you sleep better in a made-up bed. That is, if your 2 yr old isnt waking in the middle of the night, still. I digress. My sheets aren’t the color they’re supposed to be either. I made a resolution to change them once a month. And I’d LOVE to submit a beach photo but we are going to the beach NEXT week :(. Can’t wait to go on vacay tho!
OMG, more reasons I love this blog….this is not only litterally true for me a well, but also a metaphor for my life. I’m also in the same stage of pregnancy, due for my 2nd boy on Thanksgiving (what I’m sure will be another wild animal of a male controlling my house/life)….I’ll never see a made bed again. sigh.
was tempted to enter the contest, but I don’t do facebook, so I’m all out there:)
Think you can send your Nanny my way? Lucky doesn’t even begin to describe you! LOL…I’ll refrain from adding any other words that would come from sheer jealousy…seriously…can I be you for just one day? Please? 😉
I.Can.Not.Not.Make.The.Bed …
Mine is only made if someone is coming over who may have the opportunity to look in my bedroom door. Or if we are in the process of selling our house…which we are. So I have to keep this joint clean and made and staged with two Rabid Spider Monkey children (2 and 4) at home. Who wants to be me for a day? Actually, I just want to be Jina, the lady above me who posted such dreamy things about her Nanny. I WANT A NANNY!!!!!! Or at least a house keeper. Or a lobotomy. Whatever’s easier! LOL!!! Good luck with your bed!
I’ve all but given up on our bedroom. The bed rarely gets made, there are piles of clothes lining the wall from my recent closet-cleaning that I need to box up and take to Goodwill, and my once beautifully-styled dresser top is now cluttered with barrettes, receipts, appointment cards, earrings, and a package of travel wipes. And there’s a layer of dust covering everything because I’ve lost my cleaning lady’s phone number (fuck!) and can’t remember the last time I thought to pick up a dust rag.
Suffice to say, it is not a soothing haven that beckons relaxation and romance. Come to think of it, I resemble this post SO much, that I may have to do my own take on it. Especially since certain friends and family are under the impression that I keep an immaculate house and missed my calling to be an interior designer.
P.s. Will definitely look through my summer photos for a contest entry – we got some great ones this years as Lil’ Bit became a bonafied water baby.
I saw that picture of Mazzy and goodness, she looks like such a real person! I feel like I can already see what she’s going to look like when she’s 15. But then I continued scrolling down and saw those chubby little toddler legs… and, well, clearly she’s not quite an adult yet 🙂
Welcome to the “Land of Penis”. We got kittens last year (wait till youngest is 3, not 2, my bad) and I insisted they be girls. Made me feel better to not be soooo outnumbered, even though they are spayed. Even so, a lot of my day revolves around penis, as in, “get your hand off of”, “no you may not touch his”, “no, mommy’s looks different”. You get the gist.
Our bed gets made about %50. I do however wash the sheets every week or so. It helps if you have allergies.
This is so timely. I made the same commitment last week. And you know what? OMG- I spent hours getting the room back to my “happy place” and it was 100% worth it. I do the half-assed bed making, but it LOOKS nice when I get there again at night and it makes the room stay clean. Because when the bed is sloppy, um, the room just becomes that naturally, in my experience. Our room WAS worse than the living room for sure….now it’s my haven again. I love walking in there. The making the bed thing? Totally worth it.
I do the half-assed, pull up the blankets variety of bed making. It keeps the cats off my pillow (I’m allergic and sleeping on cat hair would make me miserable). Plus, our king size bed is the largest flat surface in the house, so it’s often used for laundry folding and other activities so it’s much easier just to straighten the bed in the mornings. I’m not a tuck-in-the-sheets-every-morning kind of bed maker, just a pull them up bed maker. Now, my kids’ beds….that’s a different story: what’s the point when they’re going to play hide-and-seek under their blankets, or drag them off to build forts?
My hubby has few jobs inside the house. He’s relegated to the outdoor work, garbage and BBQing mostly. But his one indoor job is making the bed because I don’t “do” making the bed and he’s the one who is obsessive about the bed not being made. He comp[lains that when you get into an unmade bed the sheets aren’t right, it’s uncomfortable,waaa waaa waaa lol…so he makes sure it’s made and I say, fill your boots! LOL…
Your “after” room looks like Nirvana compared to mine and we don’t even have young children…
But I do let my teenagers eat their cereal in there.
So milk stains?
Yeah. We got that.
Aren’t you excited to know that things won’t be much different in a dozen years? It’s just that the mess-makers will probably have pimples.
Hooray.
So I just looked through every post on The Mommy Project 🙂 I’m not a mommy yet but I do love Mazzy’s nursery and lots of the details from your other posts. Is it ok if I pin it on Pinterest with a link back for future reference?
I don’t bother making the bed either. When I do, the kids just jump all over it, pull the duvet off onto the floor, throw the pillows on the floor. Sometimes they slip inside the pillowcase, with the pillow still in it, and race-slide down the hall. Then I use that same pillow to sleep on. I’ve given up.
“Notice the yellowish nature of the purple sheet that looks like we might have peed on it”… made me laugh out loud!!!!!!!!! Been there. 🙂
sisters!! each & everyone of you that sleeps with toys in an unmade bed with off-colored sheets – you’ve made my day!
My bed is still a nest every single night, remotes, stuffed animals, books,pillows all skewed, usually a kid at some point…and all of the kids have nests in their beds as well, iPods, Yugioh cards, hair bands, books, ect. But we all still climb in every night for book reading and even the stinky teen/tween boys know its a safe haven for us all
Jww
Fresh made bed = good
Seeing my daughter 2 hours day = bad
I think first we have to get new sheets. These sheets are disgusting. Then I will feel better.
Glad to help out. Thank you for letting me know I’m not alone either:)
That’s awesome. We usually don’t ask our nanny to do anything that doesn’t involve Mazzy. But that was smart to make it part of the job description upfront!
I believe that study. I did make the bed yesterday which felt nice to come home to. Haven’t made it today yet though…
Have fun at the beach!
Well, as far as I can tell, Mazzy is just as wild (if not more so) as any of the boys she hangs out with. I’m also hoping for nice docile child, who doesn’t know what to make of all Mazzy’s energy either.
If you are not on Facebook, you can enter if you are both a Mommy Shorts and a Piccolini subscriber. Does that help?
I make the bed when we have company. Unfortunately, that is less and less often. We have a housecleaner come once every two weeks and she makes the bed. And then Mazzy usually tears it apart two seconds later.
The photo above doesn’t even reflect the opposite side of the room which has our dresser, our TV (with various electronic components) and my desk. It’s not a good scene. Office in bedroom = MESS.
Someone asked me yesterday if she was seven. I was like, ummm… she’s TWO!!! She’s had very refined features since she was a baby and coupled with that head of hair, she can look way old in pictures. But in reality, she’s only 50th percentile for height, so she looks much littler in person.
I have to stick to it. We are actually pretty good about tidying up the living room daily because I need to walk in to a place that looks somewhat put together. But the bedroom has really gone to hell.
Luckily, Mazzy has yet to use a blanket or pillow. We are switching to a toddler bed very soon so that’s gonna change. And you bring up a good point— how will I ever convince my daughter to make the bed when I don’t make my own??
My husband SUCKS at making the bed. I don’t know if he truly sucks or he did really badly the first time I requested it so I would never ask again. But to be fair, he does all the cooking and the grocery shopping, so I can’t complain.
If your teenagers want to hang out with you in bed eating cereal, I think you’ve won at parenting.
Of course! I’ve also got pictures of Mazzy’s nursery on Mommy Shorts. Check it out here: https://www.mommyshorts.com/2010/09/in-mazzys-room.html
I hear you. Mazzy pulls our duvet onto the floor every morning and we pull it back up on the bed at night. I bet you wash your pillow cases way more than we wash our duvet cover.
Yay thank you! Also, more to the topic on hand, we rarely make our bed either. Our gorgeous selection of comforters are shoved in a closet during the summer too – it’s just too hot!
I love your blog, did you put an air purifier for dust in your bedroom ?
es, It is the best air purifier. it kept the impurities out form the air and keep the home air clean and pure. It is also goo that it would be great for asthma and allergy patience to keep their health better.
So I just looked through every post on The Mommy Project 🙂 I’m not a mommy yet but I do love Mazzy’s nursery and lots of the details from your other posts. Is it ok if I pin it on Pinterest with a link back for future reference?
I saw that picture of Mazzy and goodness, she looks like such a real person!
Love these ideas, thank you for letting us know!
I love your post, it really good and interesting.
i love the idea of your post, enjoy reading!