a bigger closet
I woke up late yesterday morning. As in 6:25 am. Which, in our home, is basically equivalent to noon.
For a change I felt rested but I feared what the day had in store for me. Because if I don’t hit the gym, figure out what I’m going to wear, catch up on work emails, make Maya’s lunch, and take a shower by 6:30 am? I’m pretty much in trouble for the rest of the day.
So there I was, brushing my teeth like a mad person when I heard it: knock…knock…
Me: “Maya, Mama needs a few minutes. Can you give her a few minutes?”
Maya: “Um. Okay.”
But then 3 1/2 minutes later: knock…knock…
Okay, so I should give her points for knocking. But all I could think was, “For the love of God! Can I not have 5 minutes to myself at 6:30 in the morning?”
Me: “I thought I asked you for 5 minutes? What do you need? Is it important?”
Maya: “Well I want to know if I can have a bigger closet because my dresses are all bunched together on one side and there’s no room for anything. You and dad have big closets. Actually you have two closets. So why can’t I have another one too?”
I'm embarrassed that such a disorganized mess rests within my home.
Seriously? First of all, why does my 7-year-old think she deserves a larger closet? Secondly, why does she have so many dresses? Thirdly, why are we talking about this at the crack of dawn? Fourthly and fifthly? @#$@. And @#$@.
So where was Ali in the midst of all of this? He was eating a leisurely breakfast of tea and oatmeal and was surfing the Internet on the iPad. Without a care in the world.
Typical.
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 
Oh my goodness… I was checking my e-mail just one last time before comitting to bed time… and saw this post.
(I can relate: 6:30 am used to be sleeping in for me too).
It is pretty funny that she felt the urge to discuss closet space at such an early time… thanks for the chuckle and I hope you got some peace and quiet at some point.
Have a great night!
Currie
I finally got peace and quiet when I dropped her off at school. Thank God for school! 🙂
Wow, you do all that by 6:30?? That is awesome!!! And Maya’s closet actually looks kinda neat for a 7 year old 🙂
Her closet is a disaster area…I need to work on that!
I wish I could wake up as early as you Ameena. I just loved Maya’s closet. It makes me wish I had a closet like that when I was a kid 🙂
I wish I had a closet like that when I was a kid too…sometimes Maya has no idea how lucky she is!
LOL! Typical yes…I always say it’s a “man thing”. Maya sure sounds like she knows what she wants. 🙂 My closet is not big enough, so I am using my son’s closets. In the summer I put most of my winter wear in their closets and in the winter I switch. Maybe that is what you could do with Maya’s clothes. She would be forever grateful that her mom was so clever. hehehehe
*hugs*
You are lucky to have a boy Sonel since they never care about things like closets!
I am indeed. 🙂
Wow, Ameena. First, do you really get up at 4:30am? I use to hit the gym at 5:30am and would be home by 7:00am, all would be calm and quiet, so awesome. That was about four years ago. These days I’m at the gym in evening and whenever I can go. I can’t wake up anymore, but I intend to again someday when I stop having babies!!!
Onto the drawers and closets. Hilarious. I was laughing out loud here. You’re annoyed but the rest of us are just so in love with Maya!!!! I guess she has a point? No?
Onto another note, which is: I totally understand the questions first thing in the morning!!!! So many times I find myself thinking, “we all just woke up, why are you asking me these things?” Questions like, “Mom have you and dad saved up enough money for my sparring gear yet? Or better yet, this was the other day, “Mom can you tell me what dates my swim meets are going to fall on?” My daughter Gwyneth asked this. And yes, first thing in the morning.
You’re cracking me up, love it-
Shauna
I usually get up at 4:45 or 5 am. It’s just a habit now…
And I think Maya’s most random questions come to me in the morning.It’s like she’s debating them all night while she’s asleep and they are first on her morning agenda! It’s ridiculous!
In all of this, I like Ali’s attitude or the ability to ‘do nothing’, which is a key concept in Project Management principles. When situations turn ugly or start to get out of hand, the first reaction of the Project Manager (like Ali and me) is to ‘do nothing’ until the dust has settled down.
Tell me, does Ali have a blog – if no, then why?
Ali does not have a blog because he is too busy leisurely eating his breakfast and surfing the Internet. 🙂
I take it Ali’s role is good cop :)? Perhaps Maya has a point about the bigger closet- consider it a sign that she is taking good care (or least trying to) of her posessions! Do I foresee a trip to Ikea this weekend 😉 ?
I don’t know about “good cop” … it’s more of a “I’m too busy to care” sort of situation. 🙂
A girl can never have too big of a closet 🙂
Also, Ughh waking up late and messing up the routine is enough to give one a coronary!
Katie 🙂
You understand the importance of the morning routine…I love that!
We are crazy early risers here, too. If I’m not working on something by 7am I feel like I’ve lost half the day.
My children both habitually jump into my life- when I’m trying to listen to something, when I’m up to my elbows in flour, when I’m in the bathroom trying to spend 5 minutes with the hair dryer and ESPECIALLY when I’m on the phone. If you ask them “Is it important?” the answer is almost always a definitive yes, right before they tell me something about a Lego man or a random thought on why the cow jumped over the moon.
My little one likes to shove things out of his closet into the floor and climb over things into the back where he sits with a flashlight and reads a book. What in the world.
The phone is the worst. I get on the phone (at home) for maybe 5 minutes a day. And during those 5 minutes? Maya interrupts me with the most ridiculous questions like, What should I do with my plate now that I’m done eating?”
I’m cracking up right now at the random thought about the cow jumping over the moon…
I want to hear the story of when you build May a larger or a second closet! You Know you’ll try to work something out for her. I wish my closet was half as orderly!!
Maya needs to give away some of her toys and clothes! There will be no bigger closet…
Ali sounds like my husband. Always oblivious.
My sympathizes Maryea…so sorry you have an Ali in your midst as well. 🙂
Hahaha… good question though, why can’t she has a bigger closet? You should see my kids’ closet, sometimes I forget to take the winter jackets out of them and wondering why their closets are crowded. Good thing is, they don’t care. Maybe because they’re boys.
Ali sounds just like my husband 🙂
Have a great weekend!
Boys are so mellow about things like closets and clothes! But I know that you have a whole other set of problems on your hands…
Where have our lives come to that 6:30 is sleeping in? And it drives me nuts when I am trying to have “my” time by waking up so early and then someone else decides to wake up. And seriously Ameena, I would’ve expected Maya’s closet color coded and labeled 🙂
My heart drops when I wake up early and I hear Maya get up. Isn’t that horrible to admit? Unforgivable even…
If I were Maya, I’d probably ask the same thing! But I totally understand not wanting to be interrupted so early in the morning. I have such a strict AM routine. Vishnu should be very afraid! 🙂
Oddly enough, I’m a total morning person! But I do NOT want to address random/ridiculous things like Maya’s closet…especially when I’m not even done brushing my teeth.
If she is like this at 7, I can’t imagine how she is going to be like at 17. She is such a little diva! 🙂 Are you worried that Maya is going to turn out to be spoiled when she is older. I know you said that she shares and is given gifts, but still she wears $175 shoes when 7 year olds, aside from superstars’ kids do that. 🙂
I am VERY worried that Maya will be spoiled so I do everything in my power to bring her back down to earth. The problem is that she’s the only granddaughter on my side and the only grandchild on the other. So it’s not always easy to control what she gets/does…I try!
This reminds me of my grandmother who used to live with us when I was a kid. She would ask the most irrelevent questions at the most inopportune time.
I remember once I was late for school and she stopped me to ask
“Listen, I was thinking of buying new blankets for your bed next month. Is that okay? What colour would you like to have?”
Seriously Nonna, you’re asking me this now??
LOL she always had good intentions though.
She sounds like a sweet lady…and grandparents can always be kind of random, right? It sort of goes with aging I guess…
fourthly and fifthly – hahahahaha! the husband and i share a large walk-in; however, his clothes seem to be slowly but surely creeping further past his 1/3 of the closet line.
You must get control! Before it’s too late and he demands 1/2. 🙂
Kudos for waking up that early and getting all those things Ameena 🙂 Funny how kids find things to discuss that early, talk about priorities
Thanks Dixya…and yes, Maya’s priorities are VERY random.
you just made my day. i love your family.
Thanks Daisy! 🙂
My mom considers sleeping until 7 to be sleeping in. I am weird in that I do the same in the summertime, but in the winter getting up before 9 is hard!
I think my mom considered sleeping past 7 am to be sleeping in as well…
This girl… just such a little me it scares me. Good luck with her 😉
I fear the future Jessica! You have no idea…
Funny, how it was so urgent for her to tell you that minute. Uh oh, It’s starting early. If she needs a bigger closet now wait until she gets into her teens. Guess you or Ali might have to give up some closet real estate. Either that or you guys might have to move to a new house. : )
I’m not giving up an inch of my closet space…Ali probably doesn’t care so I’m sure she’ll wrangle a few inches from him…
maya has the same amount of room in her closet as me. i want a bigger closet too lol! also…i’m happy i can sleep until 7am and still make it to work on time 🙂 this post makes me thankful for that!
You are lucky! I wish I could sleep until 7 am!
Dude, this is a completely reasonable request. I have seen pictures of her shoe collection. Where is a girl supposed to put all those shoes if not in a second closet? 🙂 Happy weekend!
Funny enough, Maya’s shoes are in the hallway closet because she has no space in the closet in her room. 🙂
I think you should tell her to construct a scale model of the new closet she’s requesting and then you’ll consider it. At least it’ll give her something to do at 6:30 in the morning?
Smart thinking…I LOVE this idea!
Ah in the true spirit of womanhood…wanting more closet space and rationalizing why she should have one. Awesome.
Shouldn’t this start at 13 though?
tell her she gets a bigger closet when you get a weekend away to the beach by yourself. then go bother dad!
Ha…so basically she’ll never get a bigger closet?
unless there is a miracle. 😉
LOL.. Maya is still so adorable. Kids come up with the cutest and funniest things to say. Men are so typical.. all they care about is food, s*x, and tv/internet! So annoying! You wake up so early.. I wake up at 8:10 on days I go to work…. you don’t even wanna know what time I wake up on the weekends.
How funny that we wake up at the same time and we live on opposite coasts. So curious what time you start work?
Maybe Maya’s been watching too many of those trashy Housewives shows on Bravo?
Probably not.
Sadly my closet is the same size as Maya’s. I have a rule: everytime I buy something new, I pick something old and donate it to Goodwill. Otherwise, there’s just no room.
I do the same thing! I give SO much stuff away because I can’t handle too much stuff. I try to do the same with Maya’s stuff but I’m apparently not as successful…
Just about Ali’s bit…Soo very typical, that’s the story in almost every household as far as I know !!!…Regarding too much stuff, I just keep giving away on a regular basis too as I don’t have so much room plus I can’t handle so much as it all has to be extremely organized otherwise !!!…6:25 is too late for you to wake up? Wow…I can baely pull myself out of the bed at 6:00 😦
So very typical…unfortunately! And yes, I try to give stuff away on a regular basis but Maya’s imports seem to be a bit more than her exports. 🙂
I suggest you confiscate the iPad… You’ll feel so much better after… 😉
Did you know on my iPhone all your pics come up sideways…. I thought the closet were shelves at first… Took me a while to figure it out 😉
If I confiscated the iPad Ali would just go out and get another one…
And I noticed the sideways pics on my iPhone…I have no idea why that happens?
gee kids say the darnedest thing at the most crucial (?) time; my daughter being of the same age I can very well imagine ; anyways have fun !
At the most crucial times…exactly! Thanks for the comment Priya…hope you have a great weekend.
Um, I wonder who Maya takes after!!!!!
Ameeeeeeena. Xxxx
Me? You think? 🙂
lol…u definitely have to give maya points for knocking instead of barging in, 6:30 is late? im wonderin what time u get up normally..
I get up around 5 am…it seems to get earlier and earlier!
I get up at 4:30-5:00 am as well to squeeze in my workout 😀 and have 1.5 hour commute to work afterward…no fun but after a while I got used to it. Maya’s closet actually looks more neat than mine 😛 I don’t think you could stand seeing mine..LOL
Your commute sounds horrible…I am SO sorry!
From what I can see, she’s got a rockin’ collection of dresses. Maybe she has a point? Or maybe you should threaten to raid her closet?
If I could fit in any of Maya’s stuff I would absolutely raid her closet…she has some cute stuff!
OMG, I can’t imagine. I am asleep at that time of day 🙂
You are a lucky lady…
She has a ton of shoes right…and now dresses….what about purses? Does she have a drawer of those?
What woman hasn’t woken up and thought CRAP! What am I going to wear???
No purses yet…I’m sure that’s next on the wish list!
LOL…. Com’on Ameena you have to agree all girls need big closets… Right LOL
But I have to say her closet is pretty organized you should see my boys closet… God they don’t even care if they have one or not….
Anyways… Girl you should get ready for a closet take over soon…. LOL
That’s the great thing about boys…they could care less about things like clothes and closets!
7 year olds need two closets? Hmmmm All this is such a heads up to whats in store for me in 5 years from nw.
Hopefully you won’t have to deal with such questions at the crack of dawn Anita…
Hi Ameena,
That looks like a very organized closet to me. I know exactly what you mean. Before my little one heads to school , she takes forever to decide what to wear. I wish she a had uniform.
I wish uniforms were at every school! Life would be 100 X easier.
Maybe you should tell her if she needs to talk to you that early in the morning she has to bring you tea and be your personal dresser…
Now that’s a good idea! Make her do something useful with all that extra time on her hands…
It’s a slippery slope we climb, from wanting bigger closets to bigger rooms to bigger houses….and Maya seems already precociously aware of all of this at a very young age! Now, I am at a point where I don’t want more, I actually want less. Anyway, I hope you were able to sleep in when you were in NY in that GORGEOUS bed in your other post…:)
I actually want less too…funny how that works. I would love a place half the size we have now…but it would need to be in NYC. 🙂
Lol! Wait till she is a little older. R would turn to me and ask in that voice ” Is it OK for her to go out in those clothes?” So why can’t you tell her yourself? Why should I be the wicked witch everytime!
I’m the wicked witch all the time…I expect I’ll be conveying such messages when Maya is a teen!
haha, funny and cute maya.
and wow, you’re up so early.
i’m ashamed of myself. though i sincerely want to be an early riser i’m usually up by 9am, sometimes later. [p.s.: no job & no kids]
and that closet looks like my closet and like the whole of my apartment. oops, is it really so messy? 😛
Its not so messy…I’m just super anal about organization. 🙂
Haha! I can’t wait until you guys hit teenage years. Things are going to get HILARIOUS. Of course, I’m sure sweet Maya will have a blog too. Thanks for sharing, sweet friend. As always, I’m leaving with a smile.
I’m sure Maya’s blog will be fascinating…and all about my bad habits. 🙂
Man, you are going to be in serious trouble when she hits the teen years!
I can’t wait. I think?
OMG you have a budding designer in your midst! Do everything you can to encourage her!
She has more style than me so I guess that’s a plus! 🙂
They talk about it when they think of it. We should do the same thing because what usually happens to the ‘important’ thing we were going to bring up is we get sidetracked a million times and then months later wonder why the thing we thought was supposed to be taken care of isn’t!
Tell me this, does she stuff dirty clothes back into her drawers? All my kids do this no matter how many times we talk about it. Drives me up the wall!
Maya has mastered the art of throwing her dirty clothes in her hamper. I’ll give her that much!! But she will stuff other clothes in drawers with total disregard for my attempts at organization…
I just always feel so happy when I visit your blog. You make me laugh without fail. And I can relate every time!
Oh, except for hitting the gym before 6:30 am.
Dang girl, 6:30 is late? I get up at 6:15 during the week but only because I absolutely have to if I want to partake in the joys of getting rid of two of my kids for the day. I have the opposite problem; I need to fill my closet up a bit more. I’m embarressed to say this, but there are outfits older than my children hanging in that archive of a closet.
The only thing that has become apparent to me at this point is that we need to get Maya into the morning tea-routine or something so that you can get a little more shut-eye and she can do more introspective workshopping of The Hard Issues. Such as, What To Do When Your Closet Space Is Inadequate.
At least she didn’t want to talk about dirty business like World Peace, The Middle East or Germany’s Role As A Financial Pillar Of The EU.
HORROR.
Haha! Maya is such a sweetheart. I can just imagine her standing there politely demanding another closet. Have you told her whether she’s getting one or not yet?
hahahaha, Maya is such a cute child!!!!! lol this post made me laugh like nuts
Thank you my friend…so glad I could make you laugh!