My husband and I are conspiring to figure out how we can continue to make this 900 square foot 100 year old house work for us and our 4 wee ones a little bit longer... or potentially, a lot longer.
When you have a small house, you have
multi-purpose rooms. Right now, the laundry room doubles as an office. The kids' bedroom is also their play room. The living room/dining room (it's one big "Great" room) doubles as the nursery... because it's the only place that the cradle my husband built for our first child even fits in this little house. And, believe it or not, our bathroom doubles as a conference room... when Daddy first comes home from work and we need to talk, that's where we go.
With locked doors and a fan, we can actually finish a sentence.
Anyway... all good things must come to an end. Our fourth one is outgrowing the cradle (and outgrowing sleeping in the living room/dining room) so we must come up with a solution. Currently, the kids' room has a bunk bed, a crib, a bookshelf, a changing table/dresser (see, everything is multi-purpose), and a small closet.
There is no room for a second crib... or anything else, for that matter. I already purge toys and clothes regularly so we need another solution.
One idea we've come up with is finishing out the loft space we have access to through the kids' room. It's tiny and very hot during the summer. Right now, it's just a storage space for Christmas decorations and where we've had access to the guts of our house to catch a few unwelcome visitors of the four-legged variety. *shiver*
But...
If I put my desk and desktop computer up there, I won't be able to just swing by and punch out a blog.
I won't be able to run over to my Google toolbar to find last minute substitutions for dinner that's on the stove.
I won't be able to get distracted while I'm folding laundry with my new favorite blog or Netflix Watch Instantly (yes, I just clicked over there to see if Bones Season 5 is available yet... it's not).
I won't be able to use the laundry room as my place of refuge when my husband and I aren't jiving so well. Surely, this happens to every couple. Retreat to your corners and come out swinging. Better yet, come out calmly and kiss and make up.
If I had a walk-in closet, that's where I'd hide out.
So, do I like the idea of moving my computer up a ladder in the room where I dare not break our #1 house rule: "Never wake a sleeping baby" just to update my FB status?
Maybe?
Internet addiction disorder (IAD), or, more broadly, Internet overuse, problematic computer use or pathological computer use, is excessive computer use that interferes with daily life. Source: Wikipedia, of course (the source of all knowledge, good and evil).
It made me almost anxious to think about having Internet access only a few times a day. But it might be good. I find myself computing more than playing games with my children or maintaining sanitary conditions in my bathroom. I find I'm more interested in headline news and celebrity hairstyles than making a phone call to a friend or reading a book.
And I'd much rather blog than cook or (social) network than shower. (see the IAD definition above... um, oops.)
So, I'm thinking I'll even
ask my husband to move my office upstairs. I'm thinking I
want him to move my computer further out of reach. It's like when you put a clip on the M&Ms bag and put it on the top shelf. It's not that you can't get to it, but maybe if it's a little harder to reach, it'll be a little easier to exercise self-control.
Hi, my name is Clara.
I'm an Internet addict.
.
