I’m not the best at dealing with stress. I tend to have a problem in that area. Last year I decided to work on this problem. However, I know I can’t do it alone. Occasionally, I still have a “Mitty Freakout.”
Brady has this nickname for me- Mitty. After watching embarrassing tapes of me as a child where I couldn’t say my own name, he began using the nickname I made up for myself as a child who couldn’t say her s’sss.
Back to the freakout.. last summer when I was over loaded with photo editing, marketing, my “day job” and well, life. I had sort of a breakdown. I had a pile of laundry and dishes taller than I could manage. My week nights were spent cleaning, weekends and weekdays working. I felt stuck. Which led to a crying fit on the middle of the floor. (not my proudest moment) The decision to ask for help was hard for me.
You see, I was raised weirdly. I had a pretty normal childhood, but my parents are polar opposites. My mom is creative, free spirited and (in her own words) a little odd. My dad is straight laced, traditional, left-brained. I was raised to have pride and not ask for help. Stand strong, as my dad would say. My mom would tell me to follow my heart but not spend money. Not that they were bad parents, I was just conflicted at times. They rarely agreed on a parenting style. One thing they did agree on was being thrifty. Ok, I won’t lie, they are the cheapest people I know.
Now for the real shame… **Mom, stop reading this**
I have a housekeeper. (I’ll pause so you can gasp in shame) I hate to admit it, but I do. Brady and I both work a lot. He averages 50 hours a week and me about the same if not more during wedding season. So, we decided to work a house keeper into our budget.
My parents would think paying someone to clean was the biggest wast of money in the world. “Why pay someone when you can do it yourself for free?” that’s what they’d say. The reality was that I could no longer do it myself. So I caved and began interviewing cleaning services. That’s when Tide Home Helpers came into my life. Coming home to a freshly cleaned house is my idea of heaven and their rates are extremely reasonable. I’m sure I’ll continue to feel guilty about this for a long time, but oh well.
To take the shame even farther, sometimes I buy my groceries online and go pick them up on my way home. There’s no shame in it! Hey at least I don’t have them delivered to my house. They do that in Chicago. GR is not sophisticated enough for that. I don’t want to to be either. Meijer Grocery Express has a great system. It’s $6 extra added on to your bill and they shop for you. I really can’t think of anything better. So worth the money when I’m pressed for time.
So there you have it. I’m a slacker in my household duties but at least I have less stress in my life now. And since every post is better with a picture, here is a recent one from our trip to the Bahamas. It makes me feel very zen. More to come soon!
