My summer house
My house looks like a cross between a locker room left in a total hurry and an abandoned home. It is pretty normal for this time of year.
If you stopped over at this very moment, you would be greeted by a totally naked child (because it is summer and he is peacefully laying in his bed watching a movie but if you should show up, he lacks social concern about being naked - after all you have seen it all before), socks and shorts in the foyer, shoes piled up by every door, shirts and blankets in the living room, pile of towels on the kitchen floor and the deck, clean laundry on the bed and dresser and dirty laundry all over the laundry room floor which is also a bathroom! You would also see a pile of small paper scraps and pair of scissors on the floor - I encourage random cutting activities. There is a box of matchbox cars dumped in the middle of the carpet, couch pillows piled and propped up with kitchen chairs covered with a blanket from the fort we just built. Next to piles of books you will see the iPad & iPod and a charger because we may read or play a game! And later I will close the door on all of it and we will go on an adventure or to the pool and I won't even stop to consider cleaning before we go!
This is my summer house. It is not so messy before I go to bed. I try every night to be sure to right the mess and quickly sweep, wipe counters and get ready for the next round of fun. This is the way it is supposed to be.
I spend most of my time present with my child. I play, jump, crash, build, explore, watch and I let the rest just be. It is of great importance to be present. The cleaning and scrubbing and order is not exactly what is important in our house. The living is.
Does it go against everything I find comforting... to leave the mess, to leave the disaster and just play with my child. Absolutely! It is incredible hard. But to miss the moments because I was more concerned with keeping order and clean is to miss his joy at the small fast things. To tidy up all the time, I miss the greatest parts of what makes our day fun. So I choose to let it slide, knowing there will be time to clean later. I choose to let this be my summer house... one of total abandon and fun.
So if you stop by, throw your shoes in the pile and clear off a space to sit and be in the fun! We welcome it... It is summer!
If you stopped over at this very moment, you would be greeted by a totally naked child (because it is summer and he is peacefully laying in his bed watching a movie but if you should show up, he lacks social concern about being naked - after all you have seen it all before), socks and shorts in the foyer, shoes piled up by every door, shirts and blankets in the living room, pile of towels on the kitchen floor and the deck, clean laundry on the bed and dresser and dirty laundry all over the laundry room floor which is also a bathroom! You would also see a pile of small paper scraps and pair of scissors on the floor - I encourage random cutting activities. There is a box of matchbox cars dumped in the middle of the carpet, couch pillows piled and propped up with kitchen chairs covered with a blanket from the fort we just built. Next to piles of books you will see the iPad & iPod and a charger because we may read or play a game! And later I will close the door on all of it and we will go on an adventure or to the pool and I won't even stop to consider cleaning before we go!
This is my summer house. It is not so messy before I go to bed. I try every night to be sure to right the mess and quickly sweep, wipe counters and get ready for the next round of fun. This is the way it is supposed to be.
I spend most of my time present with my child. I play, jump, crash, build, explore, watch and I let the rest just be. It is of great importance to be present. The cleaning and scrubbing and order is not exactly what is important in our house. The living is.
Does it go against everything I find comforting... to leave the mess, to leave the disaster and just play with my child. Absolutely! It is incredible hard. But to miss the moments because I was more concerned with keeping order and clean is to miss his joy at the small fast things. To tidy up all the time, I miss the greatest parts of what makes our day fun. So I choose to let it slide, knowing there will be time to clean later. I choose to let this be my summer house... one of total abandon and fun.
So if you stop by, throw your shoes in the pile and clear off a space to sit and be in the fun! We welcome it... It is summer!
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