And then I look around at mine...
My house is not straight out of the latest home décor magazine. As much as I might try to fool people into thinking it is. I admit...when pictures of my home show up on my accounts (let's say Christmas for example) I have picked the best pictures I could find. In fact, I created the best pictures I could find before taking them. When I know it's going to be showing up on the internet for everyone to see, I make sure to have cleaned and organized that space perfectly before hand.
I get kinda tired of pretending to be perfect, to have it all together. I mean, everyone already knows its an act, so what's the point?
It's not just home stuff either. It's everything. I'm not a perfect wife or mother or daughter or sister or teacher either. I'm not a perfect anything. I fall short. And then I try to fool others into thinking I don't. Which, if you really think about it, is completely silly since none of us are perfect. And we know that. And then we try to pretend we are perfect in order to fool others who we know and they know aren't perfect either. Its an exhausting and confusing cycle and I'm really tired of it. So...I think I'll just try not to do it anymore.
So let's start with my house... I actually feel kind of bad about the pictures I'm going to show. Not because they prove things get messy and generally stay messy around here, but because they are actually kind of mild on the mess. Like...I had already started cleaning the kitchen before I had this whole idea to take pictures of my house as is. So...here's my disclaimer: these pictures come after a bit of sprucing...but not on purpose. Just because sprucing is necessary sometimes. Can't be eating off dirty forks after all.
While we are here, lets look at the kitchen...
Like I said... pretty mild since I had just tackled some dishes. Now turn around and check out that "dinning room" (a.k.a. extended space from the kitchen).
I know dinning room tables are supposed to be for eating on, and shelves and hutches are supposed to be fore pretties, but since this is right inside our garage entrance, these things work very well as "catch-all" spaces. That's a nice way of saying a place to pile all our crap instead of just putting it away right away. Ooops.
Now on to the "TV room." Originally when we bought the giant TV of my husbands dreams and the furniture to go with it, we said that it would be a "toy free zone." You can see how that's working out...
The "TV room" is just really part of one big space. We turned the other half of the room into the "formal" (HA!) living room/office. Calling it an office is a nice way of saying "place we put the desk." The desk is Justin's space and it pretty much always looks messy. He has an organized chaos I leave alone unless I'm trying to dust.
Okay. Now down the hall. First stop is the laundry room. Turns out I didn't take a picture of that. There's a washer, a dryer, and a litter box. Basically this means that there is a constant supply of cat litter sprinkled across the floor and a basket full of dirty laundry. Enough said.
Next...the third bedroom. Home to our old TV, a twin bed, and the Ninja Turtle lair. This room actually is at its best now (at least in these pictures) because I have relocated the art stuff so it is no longer covered in crayons and paper scraps. This is where I send the kids to watch TV when I can't stomach another episode of whatever cartoon they're obsessed with at the moment.
Oh...I forgot to mention that this room is also where I hang-dry my delicates. And really, I should have taken a new picture, because currently the bed is stripped, the mattress is leaning against the closet, and the box spring is waiting to be repaired. (My kids like jumping on the bed even though they know they are not supposed to which is why the box spring is broken.) Oh, and it's been that way for a week now. It probably won't get fixed until my sister comes to visit and needs a place to sleep. We are procrastinators like that.
Onto the next room: the hall bathroom. Also referred to as the "boys' bathroom." This is a scary place. I don't go in here unless I'm cleaning it or have no choice. Two young boys brushing their teeth and using the toilet...its scary.
Walk with me down the hall a little further (like two steps - we don't have a huge house here). Its a bedroom shared by my boys. There are always toys everywhere and the beds are never made because bunk beds are a pain to make for me, much less them. I'd just rather not fight that battle.
You know how I said two seconds ago that I don't like making bunk beds because they are a pain? Really, I just don't like making beds at all. Ours is proof. I make it when I change the sheets. Obviously I hadn't just changed the sheets on this particular day. We had also just gotten back from our Fourth of July trip and hadn't really bothered to completely unpack. If there wasn't a suitcase on the floor there would be a pile of Justin's worn-but-not-dirty-yet clothes anyway, so it's still a pretty accurate representation of the norm.
Huh. I forgot to take a picture of our master bath. Oh well. Just picture the boys' bathroom but with the toilet seat down. And the sink is generally a little tidier. We are grown-up after all!
I probably should have taken some pictures of the outside of our house, too. Currently all of the landscaping is overgrown and the grass was do for a cut a week ago. The back yard and patio are covered in toys that haven't been picked up, and I desperately need to pull weeds. I hate yard work though. Mainly because I seem to be allergic to grass and growing things and always break out in hives when I have to do it. Needless to say...our house doesn't look perfect from the outside either.
The truth is...just a couple of years ago, my house did look pretty perfect most of the time. I was obsessed with keeping everything picked up and perfect. I freaked out over toys on the floor and dust on the TV and dirty dishes in the sink. But it was too much. My life started to spin out of control. I was like one of those circus performers that spin plates on sticks, and I was exhausted and my family was suffering for it. So, I decided to drop some plates. The perfectly ordered house was one of those plates. And my life is better for it...even if it is a bit messier around here.
Stay tuned...I'm planning to keep on posting this time. I like talking about being real.
P.S. Potential burglars...I just gave you the entire layout of my house. I also think it's pretty clear I have very little worth stealing unless you're looking to upgrade your Ninja Turtle collection. Please pass on by my house without stopping.
No comments:
Post a Comment