The battle of the laundry basket

The concept is simple- if it's dirty, it goes in the hamper; if it's clean, it goes in the closet.  The execution?  Apparently not so simple.
Yesterday was laundry day....well, it was supposed to be.  The small, wooden hamper used by my boyfriend and I was just coming to the brim.  My son's much larger, pop-up hamper?  Overflowing!  How is it possible that one little body can produce so much dirty laundry?  So I decided to investigate...

Jeans- put on in the morning and changed by 9:00am.  In the hamper anyway.
Sweatpants- put on before dinner and taken off at bedtime.  In the hamper anyway.
A brand new shirt with the tags still on.  In the hamper anyway.
A cheetos wrapper.
Socks- never worn and still folded together neatly.  In the hamper anyway.
A sweatshirt that I don't think was actually worn at any point.  In the hamper anyway.
And the list goes on.

And so the dilemma of how to handle this situation began.
Spray everything with Febreze and secretly put it back?  Hmm, kind of gross.
Dump all the clothes on his bed so he sees the errors of his ways?  Even grosser.
Do the laundry anyway and lecture him later?  Where's the fun in that?!
Drag him along to the laundry room with me, make him carry the baskets and separate all of the socks?  Priceless!

The social calendar of a 3rd grade boy

So I have recently found out that, without my knowing it, 3rd grade has now become the epicenter of the universe and I "just don't understand." 

Today was the first day back to school after a long weekend and my son was scheduled to have a play date.  Now when I was a kid, a "playdate" meant riding my bike down the street on any given day and knocking on a friend's door. 

Well, this is not the way of the world anymore!  Now, we have bus passes and advanced planning must be made so he knows exaclty which mini-skateboard to bring.  He can't bring the blue one to this friend's house because he may already own it AND he wants to have a playdate with a DIFFERENT friend next week, but that friend DOESN'T have the blue one so he might want to bring it then. 

And apparently the playground is no longer just for kickball at recess- it is now the headquarters for official business related to all things 3rd grade.  You have to know the "secret password" to enter the wooden house at the back of the monkey bars...and of course, no girls allowed.  But the girls can still chase you around the playground if you're foolish enough to stray from the house...except now you have bodyguards to make sure they never catch you. 

So, you ask, what goes on inside this secret, wooden house only meant for 3rd grade boys?  Well, it's the home of the Cool Kids Play With Legos Club, of course.  But it's by invitation only- you must receive a secret note inside your desk before lunch time to qualify for entry into this elite club.  And, I'm told you must bring your best Star Wars Lego ship to school as well.  Of course, I only know this because I have the audacity to say "no Legos in school or else they will get lost" and I'm met with a crying, red-faced child telling me that he won't be cool anymore.  Oh the drama.  He's right- I "just don't understand!"

How it started

I was sitting at a Starbucks the other day with a friend of mine, theatrically relaying the frustrating events of the week when she said to me "You know, you should start a blog!"

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that there MUST be other moms out there who can relate to my funny, yet often stressful, moments in life. I'm also sure there are many moms out there who just wish their homes could stay organized and that everything could go according to plan! And so begins the Tales of a Neurotic Mom.

So here it is...my blog. I am a young, single mother just trying to make it through each day with my nerves and sanity intact, while still trying to pass valuable lessons on to my 8 year old son. I am also very organized and neurotic about what happens and where things go at home- so this should make for an interesting mix!

I am starting this as a way to remember and share my personal moments in life (the ones that don't seem so funny at the time, but later end up as dinner conversations.). But even more so, I hope that there will be other moms (or dads!) out there that will find themselves relating to my stories more than they thought possible!

So, enjoy!