At this point in my blog’s life, most of my readers know me in real life. If you do, you’ve probably wondered at some point, “How does she renovate her house with a four-year-old?”
The answer? I don’t.
Well, I do, but I use a babysitter. I send Dominic to a babysitter every Wednesday so I can paint the house or do any sort of dirty work that I couldn’t do when he’s around. On mornings when I feel energetic, I wake up around 6:30 and do something until Dominic wakes up around 8. I also grab time here and there when he’s watching a show.
But some weeks I don’t. There are weeks when I just want to enjoy summer more than use every spare second renovating. Right now the garden is producing like crazy, so my spare time needs to be spent processing fruits and veggies.
Or sometimes the job is bigger than an hour or two slot. In the living room I had to just do one wall a week because it was such a big job. Sometimes dishes and laundry suffer so I can make progress on the house. Sometimes I get sick of my house being torn apart and am slower on the renovations.
I’m also really lucky. Dominic has sensory issues, so he isn’t the kind of kid who gets into my painting supplies if I leave something out. I’m not sure if I could do all the stuff I do around the house if he was neurotypical.
Why am I writing this? Well, I want to keep things real occasionally. As much as I try and put forth a beautiful image on this site, Facebook and Instagram, I’m just a regular mom of a young kid trying to live out my dreams. The beauty is in the journey, so lets enjoy the ride.
Have you tried to renovate with young kids? How did you make it work?
Kristen is a former farm kid turned urban gardener who owns the popular gardening website, Shifting Roots. She is obsessed with growing flowers and pushing the limits of what can be grown in her zone 3b garden. She also loves to grow tomatoes, but oddly enough, dislikes eating them raw.
