I call a friend, knowing she’ll understand the desperation in my voice.
The words teetering between a whine and a beg.
“Remind me again, how many more days before school starts?”
Loads of laundry piled up high, dishes accumulating far too quickly, and I’m not really sure the last time my bathroom was cleaned. And if I can be brutally honest…there is mold & scum clearly visible on the shower door.
It reminds me of a bachelor’s house but no, it’s just what summertime accomplishes in this house of mine. Summer will wreck havoc on the most organized of women. So consider what home looks like for me, one of the least organized women!
There is chaos and mayhem in piles of dirty dishes, produce that all needs canned at once, kids insisting they have to help make dinner which translates into even more messes. And don’t get me started on the Legos scattered endlessly over surfaces that are still sticky from yesterdays glued on art project.
On June 1st those messes looked SO cute.
By August 1st that same mess sends me into tirades, screams, and frustrated sighs.
So how do we make it through this chaotic mess that intrudes so unapologetically into our lives?
Perhaps I need to change my perspective so I can find beauty in this mess.
Find joy in the most unexpected places.
For along with the chaos and mayhem, there IS beauty that abounds if I stop myself from yelling and choose gratitude instead of frustration.
Beauty is everywhere, if I simply change my attitude.
Beauty can be found… in pajama laden breakfast of homemade Belgium waffles …as the exciting urge to can tomatoes kicks into high gear …in the joy found as my daughter insists to spend time with me, helping peel shrimp for dinner.
And those Legos, that art project that leaves sticky residue all over the kitchen table…doesn’t God want me to see the beauty in the creativity that my children create?
Perhaps we need to lower our expectations of what we think life should look like and remind ourselves of what really matters.
Summertime {and life for that matter} isn’t supposed to be neat and pretty and organized.
Your house shouldn’t look perfect.
It should look like children live there.
And living means making messes with markers, stickers, and popsicles.
Don’t we have the most fun when there is dirt under our nails, berry juice running down our faces {and ending on our shirts}, and sand stuck to our heels?
So close out of pinterest, with its’ unattainable ethereal perfection, and bring on these last days of summer.
Let’s find beauty in spontaneous trips to the park, even though that means leaving the house a mess.
Let’s experience joy running through a field of clovers, not worrying about the grass stains on our knees as we search for that exclusive four leaf clover.
Let’s laugh our hearts out in a water balloon fight, allowing ourselves to live life as a child, free of care & concern.
Eventually, I will have a plethora of hours and will while away the time by creating a pristine house.
But that season is not now.
And all the grandma’s in my life tell me that when that day comes, I’ll wish I had these begrudged hours back.
So embrace the moment you are in.
Embrace the messy. Embrace the sticky. Embrace the chaos.
Real living, real memory making is found in the messy, in the sticky, in the chaos.
{Hopefully coming later this week, The Dog Days of Summer 2: Experiencing joy in the midst of whining kids and emotional breakdowns}