On Nesting

January 7, 2013 by Sasha Kerr 9 Comments

11 weeks to go before baby no 1 makes an appearance and I’m feeling pretty good. My skin is still dreadful but I’ve shaken off the vanity that has pervaded me for much of my 20s and 30s and accepted that I am likely to look a little rough until several months after the birth. The huge bump intrigues me and makes me happy. I’m excited and energetic.

But, let’s face it, I’m MANIC.

I realise all-knowing mothers will be shaking their heads thinking don’t sweat the small stuff, or wait til you get to number 2 and you’ll be dressing them in a second –hand bin bag, but this nesting instinct is pretty powerful.

Since New Year, I’ve felt I’m on the home stretch, and The Nesting is all-consuming. It’s a sickness that invades my sleep and manifests itself in lengthy to-do-lists, stressed out moans to the other ‘arf who is trying desperately to understand Mental Wife, and all sorts of phone and diary reminders. I feel like I still need so much Stuff, have so many books to read to work out what to do with all the Stuff, and there’s so little time left!

Since New Year:

1. A new package from frantic online shopping has arrived almost every day, much to the bemusement of The Chef.
2. I have bought eclectic objects for the house that seemed Very Important at the time. Like a tie rack and a spice rack. The Chef has since pointed out he never wears a tie and we never use spices. And it continues. I want new cushion covers! I want to move furniture around! I need new house plants!
3. I keep booking up time to meet up with friends, as if post-March I am disappearing off the face of the planet.
4. I am obsessed with doing all the odd jobs in the house that need doing before baby arrives. Damp-proofing, carpet-mending, dusting, gardening. Sitting down and relaxing (which I am advised to do more of) is a becoming a rare event.
5. I am training myself to become a domestic maternal goddess. I bought cake tins! I cooked my first pie! And sticky toffee pudding!
6. I am noting down every mummy recommendation and acting on it. My baby will be swaddled, carried in 2 types of baby sling, with white noise and coloured lights. At this rate, I will be fanning the little tyke with peacock feathers while recreating the birthing noises of a giant whale.
7. I am finishing off the dream nursery that I have decided we must have. We have cot and chest of drawers and shelf, and now I want a glider chair and some stickers and the moon on a stick. For a baby who will be unable to focus on much for the first few weeks. But STILL.
8. To add to our growing nursery, I am buying “essential” baby gear. Like a sheep that plays wave music, toy boxes for an unborn child who will be unable to pick up toys for several weeks, and a cow-patterned baby towel.
9. I have a spreadsheet, a SPREADSHEET, of all the baby stuff we still need and booking up every remaining weekend from now until D Day with shopping trips for me and The Poor Chef.
10. I am obsessively budgeting, saving, then spending my savings on Stuff. Then crying over lack of savings. Then buying more Stuff.

HELP!