Ever tried to sell a house where a toddler lives?

July 26, 2008 |  by cool mum  |  reality check

Whew. My job for the past few weeks has been to take care of Cool Baby while keeping our house absolutely pristine at the same time. We have a lockbox on the door, so it could potentially be shown at any time. Some snapshots:

-taking Windex to the sliding glass doors so that CB can immediately imitate me by dragging his face and hands across it

-perfectly organizing the cabinets so that CB can immediately throw everything out before I get a chance to re-latch the babyproofing, including damaging the kitchen floor by throwing pots

-carefully putting on a white couch cover on the sofa bed that we’re sleeping on so that CB can find a dirty shoe from across the house to drag against it

I have also sold half of our furniture on craigslist for about the same as what I paid for the pieces (another great benefit of bargain furniture!). So our house is pretty empty and I actually like it that way.

If I can just thwart CB’s efforts to make the house less clean, it’s all going to be worth it…NYC, here we come!

Related posts:

  1. Why I love living in a studio apartment with a toddler
  2. So are you telling me there’s not one house to rent in all of Tuscany?
  3. Mr. Cool Mum
  4. FTDQ #1: What’s the best house temperature for a baby?
  5. My first tailgating experience–this week!


5 Comments


  1. I remember having to do that. No good, that’s for sure.

  2. for the record, CM is doing an AMAZING job! i had to leave town on Saturday and I felt terrible about leaving her with a messy house.

    she cleaned and had to race out of town as well. when i got home yesterday, it was spotless. what a cool mum.

  3. I had to go through that twice. My prayers are with you all.

  4. Oh, CM – I feel like every day is like that at my house – and that’s just trying to keep it mildly presentable! I cleaned/straightened for 5 hours last week and STILL had the feeling that I would be horrified if someone showed up unexpectedly. Hang in there. :)

  5. steve and randel hambrick

    can you say TORTURE?? for 6 months we lived in a house on the market.. i found myself being MEAN to my kids and my family, becoming quite the nut about having a spotless, perfect house.
    so warnings to you guys- try to not be obsessed!
    grace to you in this process! we’ll pray for a quick sale

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