dishes, diapers, and dough

Today I had a pile of dishes waiting for me when I woke up. They were stacked to the ceiling and spilling onto the floor. Okay, that is what it felt like. I hate waking up and knowing that dishes are waiting for me. A plate or cup from a midnight snack the night before do not bother me, but dinner dishes still watching for me to emerge from the bedroom is just overwhelming.
The dishes job around here is usually split. I do the breakfast dishes, Virginia is responsible for lunch things, and Nathaniel does supper items. However, when the dishes get piled up(even one meal), I feel overwhelmed. I do not feel right making the children do them when I (an adult, most days) am overwhelmed. I don't always get the dishes done on my shift as the baby may need me, or a phone call, or anything else that pulls me away from the sink( it doesn't take much). The water is cold before I get back so I wait for hot water (it takes a little while on the wood stove). Then they back up. Once you are a little behind, it can quickly become a lot behind.
Dough- the reason the dishes are so behind is directly related to dough (well bread but that is not a d word). There is a mouse in my kitchen. We discovered this when he ate some homemade bread. The homemade bread I made right before bed and had not even tasted yet. That little rodent chewed a hole in the bag and feasted on fresh baked bread. Until I catch that little guy, bread and many other things will be living in the fridge.
The dishes did not get done because of the thought of a mouse. I have a hard time believing that a mouse is more scared of me than I am of him. I just think about a little mouse running over my foot while doing dishes. Ewwww. I am not racing into the kitchen to work on those pots and pans.
Diapers- We use cloth diapers around this house. Diapers are laundered every other day to keep up with demand. However, I may have found a way to decrease my laundry load. We have taught Naomi (9 months) some sign language. She has been signing change (for change diaper) for about 1 month. We have noticed that sometimes she will sign change and have a dry diaper but pee shortly thereafter. So I have sat her on the potty throughout the day. She peed on the potty about 2/3 of the time that I set her there. That is really saving on dirty diapers and clothes. I love less laundry.

Tomorrow I will write more about baby sign language and progress on Naomi's potty time. I am off to prepare the house for tomorrow. I try to do as little work as I can on Sundays so I need to finish the dishes. I need to get them all done as the baby sleeps.

sara