The Christmas tree I put up in a furry of nesting energy before Thanksgiving and never finished decorating. The Christmas tree that had more non-ornaments thrown into it than ornaments because a certain someone thought that was the best game ever.
Its a fake tree, so it's not like I'm risking a fire hazard, but to be honest I have kept real trees up just as long.
The point is this: some people need order outside of themselves to reciprocate order within. I am not one of these people, but I would like to play one on TV.
I want to be orderly because I am attracted to the idea that my house could, hypothetically, look like a magazine, or at least a semi-realistic sitcom, instead of the house that still has a half-decorated Christmas tree up nearly a month after Christmas.
But you know what? Today Truman took a nap on the couch in front of the Christmas tree and when he woke up we snuggled and pointed out the lights and few things we saw within it. We searched for certain colors and the red bow and the red star. In the buzz of Christmas there wasn't time for that, but now there is.
He didn't care if it was out of season or had branches falling off. He just liked spending a few moments looking at the pretty lights with me while snow fell outside our window.
I want to find a balance between spotlessness and chaos. For us this means getting rid of a lot of stuff so we can continue to use what we have creatively, combining toys from his room with toys from downstairs, without over-running the house with clutter that I am not willing to spend the time to clean.
But it also means accepting a home with children, or, even, any home, is in a constant state of flux with things coming in and going out in an ebb and flow of messy weeks and clean weeks.
In short I am going to own less, clean more and feel less guilty about how clean my house is.
1 comment:
Owning less has come to us by necessity, and I'm so glad. Although now that the lesson's learned, I wouldn't mind a little cash flow ;) Cleaning less also happens more by default than by choice, thus leading to the necessary third: leaving the guilt behind. Great goals. I'm still working on the same!
Post a Comment