The Parent Project: Month 14 and 3

Which one of these is the odd one out?

“Where is the TV remote control?”

“Where are all the drink mats?”

“Where is Oliver’s lion?”

“Where is my library ticket?”

 The thing they have in common is… they are all on the floor, except the TV remote control which is under the sofa.

This is Jack’s newest game. And frankly, I’m getting pretty tired of picking things up.

According to my book of 365 things to do with toddlers, this is all about them learning how the world works and experimenting with gravity – the noise things make when they land, the effort it takes to make them move and so on. Knowing that doesn’t make it any less annoying when I’m trying to balance 12-week old Oliver on one shoulder and get down to floor level to pick up his hat or a tube of nappy cream that has somehow found its way out of its designated spot.

Despite having a major clearout before Baby 2 arrived, the house is full of stuff and not one room is tidy. We have a Bednest. Jack used it, a friend’s baby used it, Oliver is in it and it’s already been reserved for another family baby. It’s great. We have three sheets for it (there used to be four, but one got mislaid when it was lent). However, today I can only find one – the one on the mattress that is covered in sick. The spare ones aren’t in the washing basket and they aren’t where they should be.

So I’m spending a fair proportion of every day Hunting For Stuff. On my projects, I have dedicated filing systems, networked folders, email archives and the like, all set up so I Do Not Have To Hunt For Stuff. I need to somehow replicate this at home. Until then, I’ll just make the first place I search under the sofa.