because sometimes life is just beautiful in spite of all the busyness and clutter
Also known as 'embracing my life'
I just read an inspiring blog post by one of my (current) favorite bloggers,Tsh Oxenrider. It was titled Imperfection. Instead of filing it away to read when I had some free quiet time, I read it right away. And oh, how I could identify. Seriously, who can't identify with imperfection.
Imperfection = real life
I talk a lot about enjoying and living in the moment mostly because I need the constant reminder. Actually a lot of what I write about is because I need the reminder. That life is happening, this is the moment to be embracing. Even if I don't feel like it.
In her post, Tsh made a list of things she doesn't do and then she invited people to chime in with things they don't do.
I loved it. In a rare moment, I actually read all the comments. And that was refreshing.
So I thought I would do the same type of thing. Not in a-how-long-is-your-list sort of way or trying to compare in some weird way, but just to be real. And, hey, it's refreshing to do so. To realize that perfection really doesn't exist. Not at all. No one's house or family or life is perfect.
And that sometimes you need to forgo the vacuuming and lie on the floor with both your girlies, read them books and tickle their little tummies until you are all laughing.
Here's my list:
I don't dust. I just forget about it until I'm decorating/ putting papers away etc. And I notice how bad it actually is.
I don't bathe my girls every night.
My floors often only get cleaned when we're having company. Or my husband does it.
I don't like eating breakfast. I only do it because I'm nursing. I much prefer to nosh on something around 10am. Something bread-ish and sweet-ish with coffee.
I don't like talking on the phone. I put it off till I have to do it. Unless it's one of my sibs or my Mum, then I like it.
There's my list, what's yours?
My List:
ReplyDeleteI don't water my plants even though I see the leaves drooping.
I forget to cut the girls fingernails until they are scratching me every day.
I don't refold clothes that come out of drawers due to the girls pulling them out....they get shoved back in.
I have had fingerprints on my front window for months.
I only wash my face in the shower.
There's a few off my list.
:-)
I hate dusting too!!! When I arrived in Oz every single room was a disaster because no one had lived in this place for years - it was just for storage. It was so overwhelming. :-) So I am NOT doing everything. I'm letting some rooms be a disaster for weeks on end as I slowly putter through one room at a time making each place GOOD. In normal life, I don't wash the dishes after dinner. They can wait until morning. I don't dust the blinds and just noticed last night how wretched they are. :-) I don't blog every day anymore. It's just too much. :-) I'm so happy for imperfection. Life is SO much better this way. :-) XO
ReplyDeleteOh, can't we all relate to this!
ReplyDelete~I'm way more motivated to organize other peoples lives/homes than my own.
~I don't exercise unless I'm forced to (therefore, team sports!)
~I don't read non-fiction books...it's a huge stretch for me and I probably have about 10 on my bookshelf waiting to be dusted off (and really, does anyone like to dust?)
~I don't practice music just for the enjoyment of play...I do it because I have to.
~So many more!
Ahh, this was a refreshing post!
ReplyDeleteI don't dust either! Until I sit down to play piano and am horrified by the layer of dust on it. Or we cuddle up to watch a movie and the TV screen is covered by a thick layer!
I don't unpack right away when we move in. I putter at it slowly.
I definitely don't bath Elianna every night.
I only sweep my floors when Elianna decides to crawl into that room because I don't want her to eat all the dust bunnies!
I don't clean my microwave very often...and it drives my mother crazy!
I don't get library books back on time
ReplyDeleteI don't sweep my floor anymore... I put a rug under my table :) so now I vacuum once a week.
I don't finish mending....ever.
I don't change wet diapers immediately...poops yes, pees, no.
I don't dust either...unless certain company is coming over.
I don't fold my kids laundry at all. They put it away themselves and it just all gets thrown in the drawers.
I don't remember to move laundry from the washing machine to the dryer/clothesline the same day
I have to clean out my fridge once a month to make room for new groceries...and it's like finding ancient science experiments...so, that's gross.
I don't find breakfast that motivating either.
I don't clean my bathrooms often enough.
wow, I'll stop for now! lol!
Oh. My. Goodness. I loved reading all your comments and yeah, I could have added most of them to my list as well. Thanks so much for being real. =)
ReplyDeleteI don't make my kids clean up after themselves, and only get embarrassed about it when a playdate winds down with our guests' kids tackling the mess unaided.
ReplyDeleteI hate showering.
I haven't cleaned out the fridge, wiped down the microwave or dealt with the stove's drips pans since we moved in last March.
I gave up on buying baby books for my kids because everyone I looked at required filling out more detail than I could remember and I didn't want to give them books full of blanks. So, instead, they each have some hastily scribbled notes and an untouched baby scrapbooking set. Maybe I'll get to it by the time they move out...assuming I ever figure out how to get my daughter's baby pics off the external hard-drive.
Glad to hear I'm not the only one with crunchy floors, dusty shelves, and unwashed children with dressers full of unfolded clothes. Ideally, I like to clean in random bursts of inspired energy, go-go-go until everything is pristine, and then collapse, exhausted, and bask in the perfect cleanliness. With small children underfoot, that just can't happen; since I can't do it all, I develop clutter blindness and do very little.
I think the mythical Perfect Mother, much the mythical Perfect Woman, is an insidious creature mostly because she's so amorphous - always effortlessly doing more than I can manage in whatever area I find myself wanting. Blogs can make it worse by adding more fuel to insecurity fire ("OMG! This random woman in Utah is doing X - I should be doing X!"), or they can help eradicate the myth by telling the truth: none of us can do it all, however we define it. And that's okay.
Thanks so much for sharing (and for recommending the comments - I usually don't bother with them either)!