After bedtime

What do you before you go to bed, in the quiet of the night? Do you just relax, maybe watch TV or play on the computer? Do you clean house and get ready for the next day? Do you care if your house is disorganized when you wake up? I bet you have heard/seen the joke/story about a husband and wife, who both decided it was bedtime. The husband gets up from the couch, puts on pajamas, and goes to bed. The wife gets up from the couch, changes into pajamas, loads the dishwasher, lays out clothes for the morning, picks up any toys laying around, starts a load of laundry, locks the doors, and then goes to bed. It's amazing the difference between the spouses in the joke and this is totally true in my house. Let me use tonight as an example....

Rich is out of town, so the husband is out of the picture, for now. Tonight Andrew had scouts, which lasts until 830. Once I got the kids tucked into bed, around 850, it was my time. I switched a load of laundry, loaded the dishwasher, finished putting away the groceries, filled and set the coffee pot for morning, laid out clothes for all three kids, checked their backpacks and made sure they were ready for morning, picked up the living room, and then finally sat down on the couch with the laptap (and a glass of wine) and watched TV while posting this. This is my normal any night I am home.

How many of you are like this? It drives me bonkers if I have to wake up to a trashed house and the morning goes so much smoother for my kids if we have stuff ready the night before. Maybe its because of this strong desire that I dislike pm shift, because it messes up my ability to do the morning prep. Okay, maybe I am a little compulsive about this prep, it just makes me grumpy in the morning to wake up to a messy house. Maybe I have stepped on too many toys in my half awake state, as I stmble through the living room and try to get to the light each morning. Nothing like having a sharp little army man lodged into the sole of you foot to wake you up. Rich doesn't understand this compulsion of mine, it doesn't faze him a bit to go to bed and leave dishes on the table, or to wake up and have nothing ready for the kids. Maybe I need to leave a toy strategically planted in the hallway, see if stepping on a toy enough mornings would change his mind. Hmmm, don't tell him what I am plotting for training. Oh wait, that won't work, I would end up with a hole in my window or wall from the toy flying through the air after it was kicked by a certain size 14 shoe. Am I weird or do other people out in blogger land feel this way? Am I really strange for prefering to have clothes laid out the night before? Please leave comments, I would be interested to know what others do at night, in the still of the night, after kids are in bed, or at that guiet time, just before going to bed. Hope to hear from all who try to keep up with our family.