Selling Your House with a Toddler

Well our house has officially been on the market for one week now and while we haven't had any offers on it yet, we have had a lot of showings and are busy trying to live in it while making it seem like we don't live in it.  And because it's always adventure, I thought I'd share a little bit about the fun of trying to list your house for sale with a toddler living in it.

First up, is all of the new fun decor he loves.  Our real estate agent came and brought some things to help stage our house for us while we took pictures and got through the first weekend of showings.  And Cooper loves it all.  He picks this little plant up about 20 times a day to bring to me.

Next up is trying to work on the backyard with him.  This is when he figured out how to get in the pool fence.  I was cleaning the pool and he was playing in the yard and I heard him say "I got in" and looked up and he'd squeezed through one section of the bars and was so proud of himself.  We've had lots of talks about not going inside the fence without Mommy and Daddy and a few trips to time out when he comes in without us-- he's never outside alone at this point, but he gets in there fast so it's added a new component to trying to do any work outside when he's awake.

I was up on our stepstool cleaning our windows and Cooper had to join me every time.  At least I knew he wasn't inside the pool fence. ;)

I was cleaning out the pool filter and it got water everywhere, so Cooper took that opportunity to splash in the puddles and get covered in mud.  While I was trying to get everything clean for our first weekend of showings.

In addition to figuring out how to get in the pool fence, Cooper also figured out how to climb out of the pack and play last week.  We had two different days where we planned to do naps at my mom's house because of pictures and showings and Cooper quickly figured out he could get out of the pack and play.  So his naps required a lot of rocking and singing to get him to settle enough to sleep in my arms.  They only lasted about 10 minutes, but he got a little rest this way.

Cooper also loves getting the candle off the glass coffee table and having everyone smell it.  Not a great picture, but this is him running away with it.

Our first day of showings we had one right at bedtime.  So we put Cooper in his pajamas and went to Braums for ice cream.  He didn't seem to mind one bit...

... but anyone with a little one can tell you there's always aftermath to that.  This is the result of a 10 minute nap and a late bedtime due to ill-timed showings.  He was wiped out.  Luckily he went to sleep pretty quickly but it was rough getting to bed.

There have also been numerous meltdowns about wanting certain toys out of the garage (which is where we're storing most things during showings).  We've really just tried to stay out of the house a lot so we don't mess things up too badly once they're all clean and tidy and to be out of the house for showings.  So when we were home Sunday evening Cooper was so excited to just get to play at home.  Luckily the weekdays don't have too many showings, so we're back in our routine a little more and even eating at home some again.  

Overall the process really hasn't been too bad, but it sure feels like he can make a mess in no time flat so trying to keep things in showing-ready state has been a little trying for all of us.  We'll see how this weekend goes!