Our House: The Biggest Baby of All!

I am so curious to hear your answers. Please respond here, or on Facebook.

What was more of a surprise to you in terms of workload?:

taking care of children

or

taking care of a house?


I felt pretty prepared for taking care of babies and children as walking around with a big belly is like a magnet for people telling you what to expect. Plus, there are so many books, magazines, groups, workshops, and resources for new mothers, it wasn't that much of a shock that I'd be tired, working 24/7, and worrying constantly pretty much forever (with lots of good stuff mixed in of course!). People were so eager to run up to my husband and me to tell us what we were in for.

But the house?

When we signed the papers for our first home, everyone congratulated us and wanted a tour. They asked when the housewarming would be.

But we weren't really prepared for all of the demands, errands, and expenses.

Every time we turned around, there was something that needed pumping out, cleaned, or maintained. The expenses, constant errands,chores, and demands took up most of our free time. Hoses, fertilizer, gutters, cleaning, mulch, flowers, snowblower...

Nothing was a big deal...just the regular home maintenance stuff our parents had dealt with for years, but we hadn't really noticed. Regular upkeep, coupled with parenting, was a lot to handle.

Garage door not opening anymore?

Cha-ching, cha-ching.

Tub not draining?

Plumber time.

Washer crashing?

Trip to Sears.

Deck furniture, holiday lights, yard toys, flood in basement, chain saw, curtains...all of this equaled bill after bill after bill.

After eight years of it now, we don't freak out when the boiler breaks or a tree falls down.

We know that our house is the biggest baby of all, our child that will never grow up.