You know that friend’s house you go to that is always sparkling clean, she has beautifully prepared snacks for you, and the toys never seem to make their way into the living space? We all seem have that friend whose life always seems so well put together and the house always seems as if it just had a deep clean. And as much as I would love to be that girl myself, I’m just not. My house, while it’s always clean, is never clutter free. During this season in my life, my husband and I joke that we can’t have nice things and in so many ways it’s true. Our entire living room looks like something right out of a day care center. There is a gate blocking the entertainment set so that our busy toddler twins can’t scale it and break yet another picture frame, the bins are overflowing with toys even though I just donated what felt like half of the toy collection, our kitchen cabinets all have those stylish latches on them to keep little hands out, and there is a little rocking toy next to the couch. Our decor is more Fisher Price than high end show home and our furniture has all been carefully chosen simply for it’s ability to survive spills and stains.
There was a time when I struggled with this and really wanted to have a picture perfect living room free from the clutter and toys. I would love to have big play room where I can at least close the door on the toys but right now, that isn’t an option so the kid’s bedrooms and our living room is where all the fun happens. I pick up the toys ten times a day so the house should at least seem clear of clutter at some point right? Yet somehow that just never seems to be the case around here. The toys are always visible and the odds are that right after I pick them all up someone with tiny little hands will be right behind me dumping them right back out. So what’s a girl to do? Never have friends over for fear of judgement or just roll with it?
Since our three kids are still really little I have decided to just embrace this time and realize that if we wait until our house is perfect to have company over we will be waiting a really long time. I will continue to spend my days chasing behind little ones and attempting to put the toys in their own special bins and baskets and every night before bed I will do the “final sweep” and put it all away just to wake up in a few hours to the mess being made again. And I am totally okay with at this point. We are making memories and building forts, lego castles and playing princess. The music is always the KidBop station or a Disney soundtrack and our house is currently “decorated” in primary colors. If you come to visit, just expect there to be organized chaos, noise, laughter and a lot of fun being had by the kids. The house won’t be perfect and the snacks, while healthy, won’t be gourmet and for the time being at least, there will always be toys on my floor.
