Thursday, November 4, 2010

What is really important

So this is a status going around FB today;

My home is filled with toys, has fingerprints on everything & is never quiet. My hair is usually a mess & I'm always tired, but there is always love & laughter here. In 20 years my kids won't remember the house or my hair, but they will remember the time we spent together & the love we felt. Children only get one childhood... Make it a good one! Repost if you agree ♥


I thought it was so true! I will be the first to admit I am not Mrs. Clever or Martha Stewart when it comes to keeping house! I am often behind on laundry, lucky to clean the bathrooms (other then a quick Clorox wipe down) more then once a week, I despise dusting and do as little as possible, I have never cleaned a baseboard, and when I clean the windows it is a real-life Windex commercial with people walking into them thinking I must have opened it. My living room doubles as a toy room and although we have tried many different "pretty" organizers, we always come back to the econo-size catch-all toy box. Not pretty but at least most nights the toys are off the floor. We live in an older house that needs massive fixes, the carpets are 20 years old, the walls are covered in crayon scribbles, the kitchen floor has old stickers stuck to it, oh and best of all the outside is only half painted the beautiful red I picked out 2 years ago ;) The state of our home has bothered me to varying degrees over the last 5 years we have lived here, the worst times being when I have a new friend over who I feel will judge me on it. But as the years have passed, it bothers me less. We are doing our best to fix it as we have money, but 4 small children will really cut into that home project budget ;) To be honest I would much rather spend $40 when we have it taking my kids to the Aquarium or out to dinner then stash it in the "New Carpet Fund" At the end of the day if you don't want to come to my house because it's not up to your standards and you want to think I'm some kind of poor housekeeper (secretly meaning I am somehow and bad parent because of it) then that is your problem not mine. 


My children are happy, healthy and love their home. Some days it very liberating to not feel the need to yell at them because they spilled juice on the already stained carpet, or made a mural on the already scribbled on walls ;) Every night when we sit down to dinner, there is laughter which I will take over a spotless house any day! My montra of late has been "Don't sweat the small stuff" and the things I have listed may not count of your list of small stuff, but they do on mine. 20 years from now, all my kids will remember was the family tickle tournament we had in the middle of the living room, not that we rolled around on stained, old carpet and over countless un-picked up toys. They will remember playing Red Light, Green Light in the backyard on summer evenings, not that there was a pile of laundry to do be done. These are the things I strive for, not to be some unreachable perfect housewife and mother. :) And sense I have been fairly serious here, I insert my trademark humor with one of my favorite images ;)


Amen.

3 comments:

  1. So true, Christina. I echo all of your sentiments. Our house was built in 1910 and needs LOTS of repairs. But I feel as you do - if a new friend judges me because our carpet looks awful or that there's dust in the corner that I didn't get to (our ceilings are 10 ft high, for crap's sake), then they're not going to be a friend who stays around anyway. I, too, would much rather treat my kids to a day out of the house together as a family than stash away our extra cash to get the ugly blue carpet replaced in the living room. I feel, too, that when my girls are in their 20s, they most likely won't say, "Mom, why didn't you buy new carpet?" Rather, they'll say, "Hey remember how we used to came out on Saturday nights on the living room floor in our sleeping bags?" Life is about MOMENTS, not the way things look. Excellent post!

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  2. I love this Christina! You say it PERFECTLY!! Oh, BTW, I HATE dusting too. Seems like such a waste. As soon as you are done, there's already dust right back in the same spot. And there's ALWAYS enough animal hair to go around. Dog and cat hair is a fashon statement in this house :) Oh well, that's what a lint roller is for, right?

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  3. Christina, you couldn't have said it any more perfectly! Took the words right out of my head. For me it's that we don't have a big house. We have ENOUGH room, but not a huge house and yes it needs some repairs. For me it's that I don't just throw up decorations willy nilly. i only put up things i love and that takes a while to come up with, make and commit to. lol. so alot of our walls are bare and look like we just moved in. i have the plan in my head, but not the money in the pockets to do it. and honestly, there are other things i'd rather be doing than making this house "perfect" for visitors. if you come to look at my house, then you're missing out on sharing the time together instead.

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