9.25.2007

This Is What It's Supposed To Look Like

My living room, the way I would like it to look everyday. It only looks like this when I get the house to myself for a few hours and get busy cleaning while listening to A Prairie Home Companion. The couch then beckons me to sit down and knit the heel flap on Aidan's sock. Clean house + knitting = happy mommy.


Unfortunately, my house does not always look like the above picture. Rest assured that within twenty four hours, the Legos in the picnic basket will be dumped, the ottoman will be covered with books and abandoned math assignments, the window seat will be covered with more books and items that need to be returned to neighbors, the cushions on the couch will be propped up and covered with blankets, and there will be five shoes and three socks on the floor.

As my grandma said on her last visit, "Your house looks lived in." I have learned that living is messy business, and while I sometimes envy people who don't bring extra messes into their lives by crafting, remodeling, thrifting or homeschooling, we all haves messes of one kind or another, and no house is impervious to dust, dirt or clutter. Sooner or later, everyone's ceiling fan will look like this:

Some just clean it sooner than others.

13 comments:

  1. mmmmm, i so hear you- i have been craving a day to stay home and clean all by myself - how weird is that - craving a cleaning day? But i too know that within moments, we will also have abandoned socks, and books and math and goodness knows what else - a lived in house is a happy house? I hope so.

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  2. I swear, we have parallel lives. Tomorrow I'm posting before and after shots of the living space. As in before Lego, after Lego.

    At the end of the day, it's more important to really live in your home than keep it looking perfect. Creativity and learning can't happen without mess.

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  3. amen to that. i think people coming to our home see that we LIVE and that i have more important things to do than clean. seriously, playing with the kids is more important. and while it frustrates me sometimes and i want a clean house, i don't want a sterile house, like so many have.

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  5. Aaaggg, the dreaded ceiling fan blade. . . my nemsis. People ask me if my kids are really neat, I say no, I just drive myself and everyone in my family crazy. I can't help it, I was born that way.

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  6. It's amazing what one clean room in your home can do for your soul. Ahhh..

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  7. What a relief for you to admit to the clutter. I try and try to get the place cleaned and laundry done, but other things (like a nap or reading everyone's wonderful blogs) always seem to come first!

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  8. This must be THE (I'll-show-you-mine-if-you-show-me-yours) Day! I just wish I had "After" pictures to show on MY blog... pout.

    P.S. Your living room is beautiful Molly!

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  9. ah man! Are we supposed to clean the other side of the fan blade too?

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  10. Curious minds want to know how a fan can get so dirty when it's in motion.

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  11. dude (i know i overuse that but DUDE) - i just cleaned my kitchen fan blades for the first time in, like, 5 years. you could have made paper with the lint that came floating down. and then the wiping. the wiping! oy vey. how does a fan get so dirty when it's SPINNING RAPIDLY???

    bloggin molly and me wanna know.

    ;)

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  12. hey! That's MY ceiling fan!

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  13. Hey girlie bug....my sister who JUST had a baby named him Aiden. It's a good name. ;)

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