space
At 2,300 square feet, our condo is more than adequate for 2.5 people. The absolute best thing about our place? It has 4 bathrooms. This means that I can keep my interaction with Maya’s toothpaste covered sink to a minimum.
To whomever came up with this brilliant floor plan? Thank you.
Aside from my much-loved bathroom and closet I really have no space that belongs to me. Unless you count the small desk I consider my “office” in our den/Maya’s area to make a giant mess.
I will admit that I am pretty selfish with the 25 square feet allocated to me. But in my defense, one has to be selfish around here – it’s survival of the fittest. That’s why I’ve made it pretty clear that I don’t want anyone:
- Putting their dirty little feet on my desk. (Yes, this really does happen.)
- Sitting in my chair.
- Eating at my desk.
- Placing even so much as their pencil on my desk.
- Sitting under my desk. (Sigh.)
Apparently I have to add yet one more rule to my list…I do not want anyone standing next to my desk while simultaneously working on their computer, loudly chewing, and talking on speakerphone for 15 minutes straight.
Does he not see the dirty looks I shoot at him? Or does he just choose to ignore them?
No, I never thought I’d ever come up with such a lengthy and random rule either. But 10 years of marriage and a high-maintenance family will do that to you.
While I'm not going to win Mother/Wife of the Year Award anytime soon, I haven't killed anyone yet or shot myself in the head. And that, my friends, is how I calculate success these days. 
FANCY THAT FANCY THIS 
Space? Whats that?
Love that post! 🙂
That would annoy me too. Especially if that’s the only “me” space I have.
awwww… it cracks me up that as big as your place is, all they want to do is be near you. It’s sort of cute. 🙂
I hate people in my space! Right outside my window, my landlords are always walking back and forth in their yard – and it’s ground/full level – and so intrusive!
4 bathrooms?!! Wow! Is it two levels (upstairs and down?). I’ll move in and “Nanny” whenever you need time to just write all day without people getting in your space 🙂
Oh I’m like that with my desk too 😉 The other day we were adding some new technological gadgetry to my computer & I found I was practically bristling up when the tech guy made himself at home at my computer (yep, even I had to admit that was random) 🙂
I’m beside myself with envy at your bathroom situation. The major drawback of being surrounded by males is…well you can guess. I have told, no demanded, that in our next house I must get my own bathroom. And I completely get the loud chewing thing. I’ve often stared at my husband with deadly looks as he crunched and chomped a meal, his fork hitting his teeth for good measure. How did I not notice this when we were dating???
That is a good question? I wonder the same thing all the time!
One downside to modern portable wonders: you can conduct /your/ business all up in /anyone’s/ business. At the bus stop, in the restaurant, or looming over your wife’s desk. Wouldn’t it be more comfortable for him to use his own office? But then, he might have just gone there for some other reason, then got distracted by the work and forgot he was standing there. I do that sometimes.
So funny! Definitely sounds like survival of the fittest. 😉
I love your little space! Defend it with all you’ve got, Mama! We’ve got your back! 🙂 XO
lol ameena and her pet peeves!! too funny
Well, with 2300 square feet I can see why you guys are all on top of each other. 😉
Hopefully you’re able to get some work done!
Ameena! I was so, so happy when you stopped by and said you remembered me; totally warmed my heart ❤ So thank you.
And I'm the same way when it comes to personal space. I don't like people fiddling with my stuff, or crowding my space. Maybe it's the OCD in me? I don't know. But I do know that my room is off-limits, as is the food on my side of the fridge and in my cupboards. and if someone crosses those lines? Oooo then I… well… then I fume silently. I'm still trying to perfect the "if looks could kill" look 😉
I can relate, though I don’t have any kids yet.
My partner and I share a large table as a desk, and we have am invisible line running through the middle to determine our sides. When his stuff encroaches on my side, I push it all back to his side. No apologies.
I beg of you to let me know if you find a way to resolve this. In my house, I clear a space and the lovely openness is seen as a newly available work space for one project or another. It got so that I created an outdoor room for myself. Yes, I was driven out of the house for some clutter free space and now at this very moment, in it there sits a large very shiny tool box, a storage bin of painting supplies for an art hobby that never was and an extra propane tank for the grill, the one concession I gave, the grill we’ve used twice in a year. Promises to remove these trespassers on my peace have been made for days. I have to stop now or I’ll start looking for someone to arbitrate the dissolution of an otherwise happy union.
If I didn’t live in a condo I would certainly consider the outdoor room idea…what a brilliant solution!
I am very lucky that my husband has conceded our den space, so it’s actually my office. Poor, sweet man… his “office” is a decorative chair in a corner of our dining space. That said, being married to someone who is 6’6″ and has size 15 feet means that I am forever relegated to occupying only the nominal bed/suitcase/couch/you-name-it space that remains…
The bright side? Inexplicably amazing hugs.
LOL! I love your rule, and I’m sure I’ll need to borrow it when I get married and have kids. You crack me up!
haha I think thats a great rule. I have issues with that at work. Since Im also the reception desk, everyone is always standing right there. But they talk loud, and I can never hear anyone Im talking to on the phone. They also throw all their junk on my desk. I need to put up a sign that says “if you do not sit here, put your crap somewhere else”.
It’s so funny he choose that exact spot to do business as opposed to all the other places in your condo. It’s like when my husband decides he needs to be doing something in the kitchen (like re-arranging his chip drawer) when I’m cooking dinner. Like seriously that needs to happen this exact second??
Honestly, I don’t think I even have my own space anymore. If you can call the standing shower my space for the only 15 minutes I LOCK myself in there for then I guess I have space. Other than that, I know survival of the fittest all too well. Oh and the evil looks we shoot at them, I think they just choose to ignore them. That’s why you need something more solid like the whatever you can grasp to chuck at them. My favorite is the tennis ball it bounces back so you can get more shots in 😛
A tennis ball? I love it.
Wow 2,300 sq ft condo is huge! I hate when people getting in my space as well but unfortunately I have to share the computer room with hubby…
I feel you daaaaahling, i live in a really small place too. Two bedrooms, one and a half bathrooms and almost no closet space. Because of this, I often end up throwing stuff out (hubby’s stuff, not mine of course lol).
*kisses* HH
Well, you certainly have plenty of room but I know just what you mean. My husband is like a mini tornado sometimes. It would be nice to have one area all mine that has no clutter and is always exactly the way I like and the way I left it. Can’t believe I shared a studio apartment with him!!!!
Ali + Me + A Studio Apartment = Divorce. For sure.
Wow your place is big! 4 bathrooms = score.
I love that they just want to be next to you 🙂
LOL! I am totally the same way… need some space! Rules are so necessary sometimes 😉
Wow!!! I loved your desk/space Ameena. Wish I could come up with that kinda rule. More than that i wish my little one would grow up fast enough to understand them 🙂
I can’t get over the four bathrooms! That’s actually my fear when I get older is that I will have to share a bathroom with my future husband/someone- that’s a space I reallllllly need for myself
haha…Ameena, you’re so funny! Frankly, no matter how big is the house we’ll never have enough space. Am I right? :o)
Hope you’re having a great day.
Cheers, Kristy
You really have a nice amount of space! I’ve lived on 215 square feet for many years, and I love that I have a bigger apartment now. But I lived alone and only had my own stuff (and mess, sometimes) around. It makes a huge difference if you have to share it. 😉
Maybe the rule should be “i don’t want to see or hear anyone while sitting at my desk ” 🙂
I need a rule like that 😉
Rule #6 – When I am in MY space, please don’t look at me. Don’t glance in my direction. I can see the words on the tip of your tongue – the question you are dying to ask me. Can’t you see I’m working here!??
Heh, I’m clearly the Ali/Maya in this scenario. I am not allowed to watch online tv and eat at the hubster’s desk because of all the reasons you mentioned above 🙂
rules are meant to be broken….right? hahaha. you are soooooo lucky to have one bathroom each, plus an extra one!!!! i have to share mine with DH…at least I have my own closet. We shared a closet in our first house, and let me just say it was the reason we fought 90% of the time.
Haha, that’s funny. He just can’t get enough of you and wants to be near you 😉
SPACE actually allows family members opportunities to differentiate, learn how to be independent, how to self-soothe, how to feel worthy and challenged and capable of being okay without constant worry of being perfect. I love your space rules.
When I look at that pic of Ali, I hear The Carpenters sing….
Why do birds
suddenly appear
everytime
you are near?
Just like me
they long to be…
CLOSE TO YOU!!!
Why-iiiiiiii?
Close to you!
Why-iiiiiiii?
Close to you!
Haha he just wants to be in your awesome presence I guess!
I get stressed when people are standing over me too, so I hear you loud and clear!
oh you lucky girl .. you at least have a dedicated space for you. I call any tiny area as mine.. hubby will go and sit there and give a big evil grin !!! SIGH
That would drive me nuts!! I don’t like it when my CAT is sitting next to me and I’m trying to get work done…
I am exactly like you I don’t tolerate if the husband is around my desk, thankfully the husband is scared enough, the thought of dealing in the future with our kids is scares me.
You should totally add that to your set of rules. Once Maya and Ali break it you can add one more.
That was funny. You know you are a magnet and people are just drawn to you! Your post made me feel better that I was not so selfish after all to claim the entire closet space as mine.
Having someone perch nearby is rather annoying. How about when you’re in your office with your door closed and “people” (i.e., husband and 2 kids) feel the need to come in and out, in and out, in and out while you’re working? The kids, I can kind of understand, cuz they’re kids. But the husband – he just makes me shake my head in disbelief sometimes. And then I lock the door. 🙂
wait. what? FOUR bathrooms?? For 3 people? I am jealous. Very.
You may feel better if you think of all the homeless people who do not have a roof over their heads and wonder where their next meal is coming from.
I can see that you are new to my blog…everything I say here MUST be taken with a grain of salt.
If you come up with an answer to all the toothpaste goop everywhere please let me know asap! I am racking my brain knowing that if I think of something genius I’ll make a billion dollars.
Totally agree with you. We all need “me space”… I am also very organized, and it ticks me if I need something that was in my space and now, I can’t seem to find it. I get dirty looks instead 😀
Seriously. My closet is basically my sanctuary. I don’t know that Marcus has even set foot in it since I moved in. The only thing I know for sure is that in the next house, there’s no way it can be smaller!
Thank god for your bathrooms. My brother was total disaster as far as toothpaste was concerned growing up. Even today, I give thanks for a clean sink and an appropriately squeezed tube of toothpaste.
Haha! Today I told Derek to get lost because I wanted to work out in the room where he has a desk. So he went to the room that has the other desk- no biggie. But I’m a mean wife I suppose. Also, in Palm Springs, I’m SUPER anal about keeping things orderly. There is an area I call the ‘cubby hole’ where anyone can toss anything and I don’t care. But do not put anything on the counterops- one laptop and a beverage are acceptable- per person 🙂 Hopefully alcoholic. The beverage. Not the person.
I like the desk 😀 its neat. I have plans of making a STUDY …. Just for Myself. No one is allowed to enter. 😀 Get a vintage wooden desk. *sigh*.. only if wishes were wooden desks 😛
but seriously, four bathrooms?!? you need to have another kid just so every family member has their own. (joking, obviously. I know how another set of dirty little feet on/under your desk would not be tolerated) 😉
Can totally relate to that. I’m not like this otherwise, but at my workplace, i absolutely hate it when other people ( having a desk and stationery of their own), come and sit and push the chair up and down to suit them! It just bugs the hell out of me when my chair is not the way I want it and there is no pen when on my desk when I want it!
Oh, I completely love your bathroom situation. I need 4 bathrooms in my place and there is only 1 of me living here lol. But when guest arrive, I need those bathrooms lol. And not having my own office space would annoy me too. Great post.
wait wait wait wait wait…FOUR bathrooms?!?!?!?!?!? my family had 2 of them when i was growing up. for 8 people. pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease adopt me?!?
I don’t have much me space either…so I just took over the dining room table. If my fiance puts even a paper one it he gets in trouble. 😉 We just eat on the couch.
on it*
Man, you need to check my boys bathroom. Toothpaste is the least of it! I hear ya on the space though. Some days I feel like no matter how big this house is, it’s not big enough.
That was a fun and light read, all the best!
Whenever I see an obscure list of rules I always figure it is because every single one of them was broken at some point thus creating the need for a rule. 🙂
That’s a good amount of space but it could be 5,000 sf and with a kid in the house it’ll feel like 500. That’s the rule of life. At the moment my desk contains two toy trucks, a yo-yo, a spin top, teddy bear, random drawings and colorings, a bag of rocks, an elephant and a remote control room. And this child has her own bedroom AND playroom. We are family magnets. They and their stuff are all drawn to us by a force that is uncontrollable.
Four bathrooms sounds amazing. Ali looks so unknowing in this pic…Like you crept on him and are about to let him have it, hahahaha
No matter how many square feet a house is..with kids, it never feels like enough 😉
Ameena, you are killing me!
I am begging begging begging for a small desk to go in our room (we have this perfect little nook for a small desk) for JUST ME ME ME.
I don’t have any ME spaces anywhere and with all BOYS… It’s TIME.
I also want this tiny one person coffee maker so I can check my blog, sip on coffee and not have to go downstairs.
tee hee.
I am sure “RULES” will come. They always do.
xo
OH and at 2,300 sq ft. your condo his HUGE compared to my first house. (with 2 kids and two big dogs) OH MY.
I finally feel like I have enough space, just err, not enough space for JUST ME.
🙂
I have set such similar rules for my room…
4 bathrooms!!!? I have three and wish for five, so I am in awe here…And by the way you have a beautiful space and I clearly see why you would not want these intrusions!