Washable Workwear Wednesday: Ponte Sheath Dress

Ladies, anon for this because it’s embarrassing. My DH stays at home with our toddler and has always been much better at housekeeping than me. I was raised by crazy hoarders and have honestly some of the worst housekeeping skills of anyone I know. I do not see mess. Even big messes. I create a trail of mess behind me wherever I go. This has been well documented by multiple roommates long before I met my husband. If I didn’t want kids, I’d probably never live with another human because this has been such a long-standing source of distress. It’s breaking my marriage. My DH takes it personally now, since he is at home and on point for house maintenance. It’s not personal at all, but I GET IT. I don’t want to live in a pigsty either. Just because I understand how I ended up this way doesn’t mean I am not responsible for fixing it.

UFYH has been an incredible resource that I credit with getting me from “probably needs social services involved” to “can put up a pretty good pretense of adulting and doesn’t live in filth, but struggles with clutter and hoarding in closets, etc.” I’m ready for phase 2. Does anyone have any recommendations for resources or therapies or jeez, I honestly don’t know because this is something most people’s parents taught them? I would totally hire someone to live with me and teach me things, except I think that is not a thing that people do.

Would love advice short of “throw your husband in the garbage” because I’m ready to do that: how do I instill a Sense of Urgency in my damn husband for getting out the door in time?

The twist is: he stays home, so there is never any rush for him, really. But I do daycare drop off on my way to work (daycare is AT my work so this is not a huge thing). I hate that I’m always the badguy, like “No, you took too long eating breakfast, so you can’t feed the cats.” (This is not just blindsiding her, this is like, “here’s the two minute timer, now it’s time to go” and then her fussing and crying that she’s still hungry…) And frequently he’ll say, “There’s time!” and then they feed the cats together and I’m not *late* for work, but drop off is rushed and much harder. Or like, getting out of bed. He goes into her room and lounges on the sofa until she’s “ready” to get up. Which can be like, 15 minutes. Then I have to march in and be like, “If you don’t get up now, there won’t be time for breakfast and you’ll have to eat it at school instead.”

Maybe I just need to chill out a bit? Maybe I need to accept being the badguy? Maybe I *can* throw him in the garbage?

Reposting from main site.

How did you come-up with a style that you like and makes you feel confident? I am very easily influenced by other women’s style and appearance. For example, I decide to wear dresses in the summer, but then I see a co-worker wearing skinny pants and I turn around and want to wear skinny pants. I guess what I am saying is that I lack confidence in the way I look and what I like or dislike. I know I should be myself, original, and confident, but how? I am decent looking, not overweight, I am happy at home and at work. But somehow I always find myself copying other women…This is a confidence issue, right? How do I “become myself” once and for all? Please do not judge.

Here’s a dumb question: How much (non-breastmilk/formula) do you feed your baby at various ages? My six month old has been getting 2-4 oz of one pureed veggie at lunch for about three weeks. Eventually he’ll need to eat real food more than once a day, but I have no idea when that is. I’m thinking about it now because his first little razor sharp tooth is beginning to poke through on the bottom.

I think he’s getting plenty of nutrition (and actually bounced back from 14th to 80th percentile for weight after losing a bunch as a newborn), and I know the LLL folks would say that food is just for fun at this point, but what do you guys do?

Any diaper backpack recommendations? Is it worth getting an actual diaper backpack with special features or is a regular one good enough. I would like something unisex so I can she with DH. We have a toddler and I usually carry a skip hop versa bag with water bottle or milk cup, a snack, and crayons, wipes, sunscreen, and sometimes even a change of clothes. I would love to have a backpack that I share with DH that is always ready to go and carry a small purse for my normal haul of phone, wallet, keys.