advertisement
-
mara williams
on May 21 2013 - 06:00 AM
Summer break has this mom on a house upkeep war path.
- read more
-
I sat down last night and studied the Christmas tree, standing tall in front of the picture window. With plenty of room for it to stand centered for others to view, it sits off to the side, the twinkle of its lights barely visible to the cars passing up and down the street. I tried to move it, but the cord isn’t long enough, so I shrug my shoulders and move it back.
It isn’t very symmetrical, and upon further inspection the tree is kind of lopsided, put up and decorated by my children because I have been uber-busy this week doing fun, an even more un-fun stuff. My not-so-little saviors, because getting the tree up this year has been a challenge for me-more of a chore than a joy.
So, asymmetrical it is, and I like it. The kids have reveled in the pride of their masterpiece. I love the fact that they can work together and finish something, that they can share the excitement of the impending holidays, even when their mom is kind of lukewarm about it.
I love it that I can sit back and let it go, instead of picking at it, making it my perfect. So often, I want to jump in, get nit-picky and work out the details for them. Funny thing-when people do that to me, I get mad. No, make that furious. I hate it when people go back and redo what I have carefully completed. So I have to stop, and think about how my kids feel. They can’t like it any better than I do.
This hasn’t been the easiest lesson to learn-I have often gone back over clean bedrooms, or re-washed a dish or two. I probably still will-but I can do it less, and feel satisfied with the result.
During Project Clothe the House in Christmas Spirit, I helped find a place to put the delicate knick-knacks, in hopes the dogs and cats wouldn’t annihilate them to mere shards of glass. I placed my favorite decorations, the Christmas snow globes, in the china cabinet, safe from my furry friends. I felt a nudge of the spirit that has been slow to surface this year.
After the decorating was all said and done, I sat in the dark, with some spirited hot chocolate in hand, in the glow of the Christmas lights. Maybe the neighbors won’t see the glow of my tree, sitting cockeyed in the big picture of the window of my living room, but I will bask in its light, soaking in the job well done by the children who can work together and finish something without their mom picking the job apart to death.
Asymmetry is overrated-I will take a lopsided tree any day.
May 2013 Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Tagslife (7)
christmas (3)
divorce (3)
growing up (3)
lessons (3)
single parenting (3)
teenagers (3)
accomplishments (2)
back to school (2)
boy scouts (2)
boys (2)
chaos (2)
family time (2)
gratitude (2)
home ownership (2)
kids (2)
motherhood (2)
new year (2)
resolutions (2)
sanity (2)
togetherness (2)
vacation (2)
yard work (2)
(1)
2012 (1)
active teens (1)
activities (1)
adult bully (1)
adventures (1)
age (1)
alright (1)
archery (1)
baby steps (1)
bad examples (1)
best friends (1)
birds (1)
birthday (1)
boys to men (1)
busy-ness (1)
calendar (1)
camp (1)
canoeing (1)
carpentry (1)
challenges (1)
child rearing (1)
children (1)
choice (1)
choices (1)
christmas tree (1)
cleaning room (1)
clubs (1)
coffee (1)
college (1)
college break (1)
coming out (1)
complicated life (1)
confirmation (1)
confused (1)
cookies (1)
cooking (1)
courage (1)
crawlspace (1)
cruise (1)
dance (1)
dead trees (1)
december (1)
decision making (1)
dentist (1)
dinner (1)
disappointment (1)
diy (1)
dogs barking (1)
drug abuse (1)
elections (1)
encouragement (1)
events (1)
facebook (1)
fall funfest (1)
family (1)
family table (1)
fearlessness (1)
fighting (1)
fired (1)
first jobs (1)
forgetfullness (1)
friends (1)
friendship (1)
fun (1)
funny anecdotes (1)
games (1)
goals (1)
good examples (1)
goodness (1)
grace (1)
grin (1)
happy birthday (1)
happy hour (1)
health (1)
help (1)
helping others (1)
holiday (1)
holidays (1)
homosexuality (1)
house projects (1)
housework (1)
hugs (1)
humanity (1)
independence (1)
independent (1)
individual attention (1)
joy (1)
jumbled mind (1)
kid=stories (1)
kids cooking (1)
kids saving (1)
kis growing up (1)
labels (1)
last goodby (1)
laughter (1)
laundry anarchy (1)
lemons and lemonade (1)
less hate (1)
living outside box (1)
lonely (1)
mac and cheese (1)
magazine surveys (1)
maintenance free (1)
manuals (1)
may (1)
me time (1)
medication (1)
mediocre homemaker (1)
memories (1)
mental health (1)
merit badges (1)
middle school (1)
milestones (1)
milk (1)
miss you (1)
mom meetups (1)
mom support (1)
moms dating (1)
money (1)
moral support (1)
more love (1)
neighbors (1)
nervous mom (1)
networking (1)
new years eve (1)
normalcy (1)
not a hugger (1)
numbers (1)
okay with the world (1)
oldest daughter (1)
opportunities (1)
parenting (1)
parenting more than one (1)
people are people (1)
people watching (1)
personal finance (1)
pets (1)
picky eater (1)
plants (1)
play (1)
plays (1)
poetry (1)
raising children (1)
relief (1)
rough patches (1)
sacraments (1)
sad (1)
scaredy cat (1)
self improvement (1)
sick pets (1)
snow (1)
social (1)
social media (1)
spouse (1)
stars (1)
summer break (1)
surreal (1)
surveying life (1)
symmetry (1)
tadpoles (1)
talents (1)
teaching (1)
teen angst (1)
teen bully (1)
teens dating (1)
teens driving (1)
thanks (1)
the big picture (1)
thinking (1)
thoughts (1)
time (1)
tolerance (1)
too many things to do (1)
tooth fairy (1)
traditions (1)
travel (1)
turning sixteen (1)
tweens (1)
unexpected (1)
valentines (1)
village (1)
virtual life (1)
weekend home (1)
weight loss (1)
westport (1)
wood floors (1)
working together (1)
worry (1)
wrestling (1)
writing (1)