I found these pictures lurking on my camera's memory card. So now you get to enjoy them. :-)
Last week passed by in a whirl of funeral activities, soccer practices, extra doctors visits for Nathaniel, and other responsibilities. On Friday I was thinking about how the house needed a good deep cleaning and organizing when I got a phone call from my grandmother. They are going to be in our area this week and would like to visit.
Of course I would LOVE for them to visit, but what would they think of the pile of boxes in the "turtle room", or the yellow cover on the the armchair that just got a hole in it but I don't have the extra money in the budget yet to replace, or the pile of extra stuff in the guestroom that I haven't gotten around to organizing yet, or the extra loads of laundry that I know will not be done by the time they get here? I am realizing that I am going to have to let go of my vision of them "oohing" and "aahing" over a house that looks like it should be in Better Homes & Gardens.
I figured that I have 2 days to
1) make myself (and Aaron and the boys) crazy by trying to conform my house to my vision of what I want to "show off" for my grandparents, or
2) relax, make sure there are enough groceries in the house, the guestroom is inviting, the bathrooms are clean and enjoy their visit.
One of my greatest challenges is letting go of what other people think of me!
It is no secret that I am not the world's best house keeper. I do enough for basic sanitation, hee hee, but my house will never look like a magazine cover. Even when I didn't have two little boys creating chaos every day there was always some part of the house that was cluttered and unorganized. I have been known to leave the dinner dishes in the sink overnight on evenings when I was just too tired to do anymore housework. I vacuum often but the floors can go for a long time without being mopped (gasp!). I like to think that I can create an inviting home without having to slave for hours and hours.
My grandmother's home is always clean and beautifully decorated. She always has a tasty treat to offer along with a cup of tea. But those external things are not what I think of when I think of the essence of my grandparents home. The essence of my grandparents home is love, prayer, music, laughter, simple yet tasty meals around the table, good conversation, welcoming acceptance.
I just realized. We have all those things at our house too!
Last week passed by in a whirl of funeral activities, soccer practices, extra doctors visits for Nathaniel, and other responsibilities. On Friday I was thinking about how the house needed a good deep cleaning and organizing when I got a phone call from my grandmother. They are going to be in our area this week and would like to visit.
Of course I would LOVE for them to visit, but what would they think of the pile of boxes in the "turtle room", or the yellow cover on the the armchair that just got a hole in it but I don't have the extra money in the budget yet to replace, or the pile of extra stuff in the guestroom that I haven't gotten around to organizing yet, or the extra loads of laundry that I know will not be done by the time they get here? I am realizing that I am going to have to let go of my vision of them "oohing" and "aahing" over a house that looks like it should be in Better Homes & Gardens.
I figured that I have 2 days to
1) make myself (and Aaron and the boys) crazy by trying to conform my house to my vision of what I want to "show off" for my grandparents, or
2) relax, make sure there are enough groceries in the house, the guestroom is inviting, the bathrooms are clean and enjoy their visit.
One of my greatest challenges is letting go of what other people think of me!
It is no secret that I am not the world's best house keeper. I do enough for basic sanitation, hee hee, but my house will never look like a magazine cover. Even when I didn't have two little boys creating chaos every day there was always some part of the house that was cluttered and unorganized. I have been known to leave the dinner dishes in the sink overnight on evenings when I was just too tired to do anymore housework. I vacuum often but the floors can go for a long time without being mopped (gasp!). I like to think that I can create an inviting home without having to slave for hours and hours.
My grandmother's home is always clean and beautifully decorated. She always has a tasty treat to offer along with a cup of tea. But those external things are not what I think of when I think of the essence of my grandparents home. The essence of my grandparents home is love, prayer, music, laughter, simple yet tasty meals around the table, good conversation, welcoming acceptance.
I just realized. We have all those things at our house too!
1 comment:
i'm like you. cleaning house is not my strong suit. in fact, i gave up when we had number 3 and now have someone else to make sure my sink is clean and mop my floors once a week. once i got over the guilt (WHY do we feel guilty about things like this!?) i love it!! i see it as a way to help myself during this first crazy year of my daughter's life. because when we move back to texas, i don't know if i will be getting another housefrau to help me.
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