Inspired You, Chapter Two

In chapter two of Marian's book she writes about a "dose of reality".... I spend countless hours fluffing the house, making it look picture perfect, and then someone comes along and messes it up.

I was a fanatic about anything left on the floor!  I would go around and pick up anything on the floor before I went to bed at night.  I wanted desperately to wake up each morning to order, not chaos in my home.  We enter our home through the garage which leads directly into my sun porch and kitchen. Both of these rooms have a dining table and chairs which are the strongest magnets in the world for my family's STUFF!  I even tried setting the tables with place mats and dishes but what do they do......scoot them over and sit there stuff down!  My family room looks cute when the pillows are propped up and the lap blankets are folded and laying over the backs of the sofa.  That only happens if I am the one that does it!  My three little dogs certainly can't fold those blankets back up or knife chop those big Ikea pillows themselves!

Do you see him?  There is another one under there somewhere.
 This is real life in the family room!

When I was younger, I thought my house had to look perfect just in case someone came over.  Not very many people come over!  The older I get, I realized that the reason I do all that I do in my house is to make a home for my family to have refuge in.  A place to escape the hustle and bustle of the world.  To feel comfortable, to be lazy, to be loved unconditional in.  That means not being so uptight that their are five drums on the porch table, cycling gear hanging all over to air dry, important papers in places that are not for important papers, power screw drivers on the family room mantle, or dog toys in the kitchen floor.

My children are both away in college now and there is not as much mess to clean up as there use to be ... I miss the mess.

My boy is home this weekend!