Things I Tell My Wife by Matt Knutson

“I think this is one of those ‘what were we thinking?’ kind of days,” I told my wife while eating pizza on our bed. It was 8 p.m. when I finally settled down to have dinner and realized we still couldn’t reach our dining room table. Our daughter’s changing table was in our living room and their rocking chair was in the kitchen. Chaos had consumed our home, and for what reason? New carpet.

If you’re not familiar with the joys of homeownership, you might be unaware that at a certain point, new flooring becomes a necessity. A tip for all of you who are pursuing upgrading your carpet: do it when you’re not home. Take a trip. Visit family. Rent a hotel room. There are plenty of reasons you can spend some time away from the house — pick one and don’t look back. Nobody told me this in advance, and you should be thankful that I’m telling you.

Our adventure began yesterday. In order to save a few bucks (remember, we’re young parents of two tiny children), we elected to move our furniture out ourselves, meaning the living room and two bedrooms that we occupy on the main floor would need to be clear by 7:30 a.m. of the next morning. This process takes a considerable amount of time when you realize you haven’t looked under your bed in years, and your 2-year-old is determined to help. Once the obvious areas are cleaned up, we’ve got to actually move the mattresses, scoot the dressers and dream of owning less stuff.

We quickly realized how much baby-related gear we have accumulated in two years. Both Maeva’s bassinet and Gracelyn’s crib were assembled in the rooms where they sleep, meaning no consideration had been given around if they could fit through the door if we would ever need to move them out. If you haven’t yet caught on, they couldn’t fit. Because the girls needed to sleep overnight, we got up extra early with tools in hand to disassemble their baby beds. It was far too much work for anyone to do before breakfast. And we couldn’t even get to breakfast because our kitchen and dining room were full of furniture.

One thing I’m learning about myself through this process is that it is possible to be comfortable in chaos. The days of predictability went away when Gracelyn was born, and the concept of having set plans disappeared when we added Maeva to the mix. Combined, our two daughters have us living in a bit of chaos nearly every day, and often times I don’t think Sera and I even realize it. Most certainly, if I were to witness our current lifestyle during my college years, I wouldn’t know how I’d make it. Our day-to-day chaos mixed with a disastrous house caused by the upcoming carpet installation makes even present-day me question whether we can handle it all.

For now, we’re making it through by being strategic. This evening hasn’t presented itself with a ton of time to hit the reset button on our house, but I have been able to reassemble Gracelyn’s crib and put together our bed. Part of our sectional has returned to the living room. There’s a path to reach the kitchen sink and the garbage. If everyone has a place to eat, sleep and sit, then I suppose we can begin to tackle the rest on another day. And that day will certainly have chaos of its own, but it also brings with it a little bit of joy as we see our house return to a state of normalcy. I’ve always said that the crazy times make the best memories, and I think we’re ready to reminisce on this particular moment instead of living in it.

Matt Knutson is a communications specialist in Rochester.