I recently had some Very Important People (tongue firmly in cheek) visiting and I wanted to impress them. A lot. So I went into house-prep overdrive to get things looking smart and fabulous. I cleaned, scrubbed, foofed and fluffed. I finished projects that had been neglected for years.
I cleaned out my laundry room closet.
Because everybody knows that’s the first place that guests look.
And I readily admit that all of this foofing was done at the expense of the people who live here. They were neglected and they ate too much junk food.
But the house looked GOOD!
So good that one of my guests asked “Does anybody live here?” We laughed. But his not-entirely-serious question has stuck with me.
Does anybody live here?
In case I have mislead you, I’m not a meticulous housekeeper by nature. (My husband just collapsed on the floor laughing at the understatement.) I like to keep things “good enough” so that if someone drops by unexpectedly, I don’t die from embarrassment.
Sometimes I succeed. Often I don’t. Don’t believe me? Here’s a picture of our completely undecorated, unorganized playroom from a few months ago. Mom fail.
In my defense, a herd of wild, flying monkeys had just come through.
It makes my skin crawl to show you that picture, but I documented the horror because I knew I would need to share it all with you someday. It’s kind of like a Where’s Waldo book. Can you find the pink pig? The empty bowl? The Elmo doll?
But on that day, I assured my Very Important People (and I assure you!) that my home is thoroughly lived in. By boys (big and small) who play in the dirt, leave their stuff laying around and don’t give a cookie-crumb whether the mantle looks good.
And THEY are the Very Important People who matter. THEY are the ones I want to impress. Because when they’re grown and gone (insert tears from me), they aren’t going to remember if I changed out the throw pillows seasonally or if I had matching lamps on my nightstand.
But they will remember if I read them their favorite books, or walked them to the park or let them win at Mancala (sometimes).
Decorating and playing with my home is a fun hobby. My own mom lit that spark in me so many years ago. But being a mom is my calling from deep within my soul. My mom lit that spark too. Thanks mom!
I want my own kids to remember home as a loving, warm and safe place to be. I feel so lucky that, as a mom, I get to set that tone in our home. That’s powerful mom-stuff.
Hey moms! Does anyone live in your house? What’s your favorite mom-memory from your childhood?
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This post is part of the P&G Thank You Mom Reunion Campaign through Blissful Media Group.
photo: top photo source
{ 37 comments }
Hahaha – Oh how I remember those days! You’re right – it’s MUCH more important that the kidlets remember having a home they could live in & have fun!!!
Thanks Kimba, for keeping it real!
Vera
Vera´s last blog ..Cozy Little Cabin Cozy Corner (thanks Madge)
Awesome post, girl! Just what I needed to hear as I am cleaning my house for guests, cleaning out the laundry room closet (no kidding!) and feeding my children junk food. Your playroom picture could have been taken at my house!
~Heather
Mrs. Jones´s last blog ..Berries for the Teachers
Great post, great reminder. Thanks, Kimba.
Great post! I’ll take it a step further though and tell you that when I get into my this-house-is-a-mess!-do-you-think-I’m-the-maid?!-I’m-going-to-scrub-it-til-my-fingers-fall-off frenzy, I remind myself that my daughter will remember that I chose to freak out over a disorderly home over letting her play with her toys in the family room. She’ll remember (as I do so vividly) that her mother became more obsessed with how the house looked than whether they were happy, having fun, and enjoying the precious little family time we get together. So I, like you, choose my kid over obsessive cleaning. Instead, I tidy up when she’s napping, and when she goes to bed at night, I scrub. Compromise, right?
What a sweet post! I like to keep my house “good enough” too – or at least the main living areas that company will see. I just keep my bedroom door shut if it looks like the closet threw up all over
Danielle´s last blog ..Meat Free Monday
Awwww, Kimba, THANK YOU, Sista! Wonderful post! And thanks so much for being brave enough to post that picture for ME! (‘Cause I know no body else needed it, right? LOL!) As a friend of mine used to say when she’d stop by my house, “I just need a dose of reality!” So thanks for being real!
I, like you, love, love, love playing house, and even though my “little ones” are all “growed up,” I definitely need to be reminded of my priorities from time to time. (Okay, ALL the time just about!)
Grins!
Pamm
What a sweet post. Those years go by so fast when you have little ones. I am by nature a neat freak and my boy is now 16 yrs. old. I still keep everything clean and in order (sometimes at the cost of my mental state) but I always made time for him. I am sure that there were times that I didn’t or whatever I was doing, I was half there but we all do what we can. You will blink and your boys will grown. Enjoy them.
Melanie´s last blog ..Pioneer Woman’s Bird in a Nest.
great post! made me laugh. i am the same way. i keep the house in ‘good enough’ shape so that if ppl stop by (which is very often) then i won’t be embarrassed. and the 3 places i always make sure is totally clean is the living room, kitchen, and all the bathrooms.
anh´s last blog ..in the mood
Beautiful post, Kimba! Love the shot of the playroom and you are so right…I don’t remember what decor was in the living room, but I remember all the fun we had in the messy basement
I know just what you mean about wanting the house to look “magazine perfect”. My husband used to get frustrated with me when I went behind him and the kids, straightening up stuff they were still using. “We don’t live at the Smithsonian!” he’d say. I think I’ve gotten a little more relaxed about it (or hubby has given up complaining).
You absolutely hit the nail on the head with that post. Even this morning, as I read through these blogs, I find myself telling my kids, ‘hold on, mommy just needs one more minute and then I’ll make you breakfast’…..now, we (us moms) all need some mommy time. I spend mine blogging, gardening and crafting, BUT, it can be so easy to forget the really important things…the little munchkins! Thank you for such a real post =P
Andrea´s last blog ..Today’s Treasures
How refreashing is it to know their are other moms out there who chose to spend more time with their children then with their dirty dishes or their laundry.
Both my mother and grandmother had Living rooms with magizine perfect decor, But nobody dared live in those rooms. Only twice a year… Thanksgiving an Christmas.
I have always lived in every room in our home. Great Post!
Refreashing, Inspiring and a sweet reminder of what is improtant, Many Blessings, Deborah
I so needed this reminder. I am always obsessed with how the house looks everyone suffers from it. Since I am a young mom of two, who started a family the unconventional way and everyone has said we will fail I always feel like I have something to prove. My kids seem to always be happy and I always am playing so hopefully I am doing both (cleaning and playing) pretty good.
So thank you for the reminder!
Holly´s last blog ..Tour of the house and the many things I have in store for it!
Kimba,
this is a great post. I was just talking to my pastors wife the other day about this very thing. we are starting a young mom’s ministry at our church and I ran across an article in my daily devotions from Journey. It talked about this very thing. We all long for a clean house in case that unexpected person drops by, but really when the day is done, the dirty dishes, laundry, and family room strewn with toys is what it’s all about. We need to take time out of our day to have those tea parties that our daughter asks us when we are right in the middle of vaccuming; we need to go out and throw the ball with our sons when they ask. Read to them, etc.
My favorite mom memory from childhood is making butter cookies every christmas and getting to decorate them with my sister.
Beautiful post Kimba! Thanks for the reminder that I needed.
Kara´s last blog ..You like me, right?
LOL! Love this post! When my girls were small, I stressed about messes and would insist that at least the LIVING room be presentable in case of drop-in guests. Until I had a dear friend tell me a secret. First, FRIENDS who drop by un announced (you’d only permit that from friends anyway, right?) they aren’t there to see your house, they are there to see YOU! And secondly, if you put a pot on the stove with cinnamon and cloves and let it simmer all day long (now days, you can use oil burners for the same effect), the house smells like you have been cooking, not cleaning! So there’s an excuse for the explosion of toy box in your front room! That’s where I went from then on! Lifted the stress, let me tell you! So friends, drop on by! But sorry, no cookies to share!
Marlene´s last blog ..The trouble the LIST Caused!
Hi! I just stumbled upon your blog ~ love it! This is such a great post. I grew up in a home where my parents, ( God love em’), were a bit OCD about having everything just so. I made sure when my kids were little not to sweat the small stuff ~ even when my daughter was 3 and colored on the walls ~ (o.k. that one was a little tough, I admit). ~Debby xo
Debby´s last blog ..Coral Crushes
Your home looks lived in – where loving people reside!
The pic of your play room made me LOL!!! I can totally relate!! Yup, folks live in my home. My favorite childhood memory is when my brother got his head stuck between the stair banisters and my mom became SuperWoman and pulled the banisters apart so my silly brother could free himself. Good times.
Lynn from For Love or Funny´s last blog ..Romance in the laser tag field
great post kimba! i try to do the just enough thing but it seems like my inlaws always shows up when my house looks like your where’s waldo photo up there. i try to remember that whats important is my kiddo. thanks for the reminder!
kristen´s last blog ..Garlic Broccoli (& friends)
You are so right, those little messers are the VIP’s!
My whole house usually looks like your playroom
That was so funny! I just hosted a bible-study in my home and as I walked into the kitchen, there were two people standing there who were looking into my un-organized, walk-in pantry! Wouldn’t you know it??? I mean, i never look in people’s closets and pantrys! LOL
My mom was always obsessed with being tidy when I was growing up. I’m not exactly her! When i find out that I’m having guests, I start throwing all of my unfolded laundry into closets.
I do like to make a good impression, so I clean everything else, and light candles, and turn on lamps.
But, you are always going to have that one person that looks in your closet…or pantry!
Love that pic of your playroom–looks just like mine
Maybe even my entire house resembles that pic–shhhhh don’t tell!
Thank you so much for that post. It is hard to find a balance. By nature I want things to look perfect all the time because I’m a perfectionist but I also have to remind myself that there are a lot more important things than a perfect home. Someday, when my four children are raised and gone, I will long for the days of them running through the house, muddy feet and all, giggling with happiness because they just got to run through the sprinkler! I appreciate the reminder of what is important!
I did a needlepoint when my oldest (now 35) was a baby. It is a lady sitting in a rocking chair with a baby in her arms and it says:
Cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow
For babies grow up we’ve learned to our sorrow
So quiet down cobwebs and dust go to sleep
I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep
Truer words were never spoken. Great posting.
Kimba, thank you! Seriously, this was a wonderful encouragement to me. Sometimes I read these decorating blogs and I imagine that your houses look perfect…and then I feel discouraged since mine rarely does.
Priscilla´s last blog ..Father’s Day 2010
Perfect POST! So very true!
Quick funny little story. I have a friend/neighbor who’s home ALWAYS is spotless. Like model home perfect, the closets, the fridge, the garage, etc. Recently some other neighbors and I had gone out to one of those paint your own pottery, bring your own margarita places. My one neighbor asked me (since I’m the closest to her) how she keeps her house so clean and perfect. I just shrugged, I don’t have a clue. Another neighbor blurted out, “I don’t think a whole lot of LIVING goes on in that house!” Your post totally reminds me of that.
I absolutely love this!
Our home is very lived in…with all the little ones we have running around…but hopefully, still a refreshing haven!
This post came at the perfect time for me… guests coming tomorrow for my mom’s birthday dinner and more arriving in a few weeks. Our home is comfortable, the kind of place that is lived in and warm. Sometimes I need a little reminder that when guests come, they should feel that way as well and not as if it’s a showhouse.
Michelle´s last blog ..My Brain Function is Nil.
Great post, Kimba. This is why I like you.
Kendra @ My First Kitchen´s last blog ..Pineapple Jalapeno Salsa
Our house is DEFINITELY lived in! A favorite mom memory of mine is when my (single) mom borrowed an RV from a friend and drove us to Florida–all the way from Indiana with a 4 & a 7 year old. Now that I have little ones I appreciate that trip even more!
This post made me smile and my heart happy! I grew up in a pristine, sterile home. I could not have friends over or do much of anything as “they” might come by and what would “they” think, say or do??? Actually, my brother and I never knew who “they”
It was miserable, to say the least. All I really wanted was for my mother to sit down and talk to me.
were!
Kids remember all the special times you spend with them and you are creating beautiful memories for them.
Have a blessed, messy week!
Pat
Pat´s last blog ..~ Wednesday Gratitude ~
Oh yeah. Someone lives in my home. I like for things to look nice, but I’m just not that into doing housework 24/7. I just have to do it as I can/want to. I’ve learned to live with it…and hope uninvited guests don’t drop in!
Sandra´s last blog ..Who You Gonna Call?!
I read this quote twice today – in very different places – so I figured it was speaking to me. Maybe it will help you too! “The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself.” ~ Anna Quindlen
Thank you for such a transparent post.
I too want to “impress” my family more than others.
What a beautiful post Kimba! I was just getting bent out of shape about going to bed without the house picked up last night. When the house is a mess I feel so out of control like I am not taking care of my duty. When in reality, we live here! I find myself being judgmental of other people’s homes that are not perfectly placed and clean and then come down hard on myself when I fail at these things as well. When really I need to let go of perfectionism and allow myself and my family (and other people!) to live life. Thank you for the reminder! xo Ashley
Ashley @ Domestic Fashionista´s last blog ..Rice Krispy Treats Remake :: Easiest Dessert Ever
Great post, Kimba, as always!
Amy at The Red Chair Blog´s last blog ..Celebrate-