"I love your blog so much. It really encourages me and makes me excited to be a mother."
My sister, Esther, is leaning on the counter top while I unload the dishwasher.
"...but then I come over here and it's really overwhelming and not always so pretty and I can see how hard it is."
Anyone who blogs will tell you that there are things left unmentioned. I started this blog trying to see the good and filter all of life through a lens of grace. That means that I look beyond the things that are hard. Some of the daily struggles I choose not to dwell on in this space.
Anyone who takes photographs will tell you some things are cropped. Or that you clear a small space to take a nice picture, even while a mountain of laundry sits just out of frame. All those photos on pinterest? Real, but fake. All a matter of perspective.
Writing is an art form. There is no right or wrong way to do it, to express a thought or feeling. Some bloggers prefer the brutally honest, tell-it-like-it-is format. Others ignore real life completely. I like a balance of both. I hope that I can write hopeful, happy posts without giving out the assumption that all is perfect. Occasionally I feel the need to let everyone who reads this know that things around here are a big mess.
So, how's about a sneak peek into my home today?
Today, in my home, my kids are eating tortilla chips for breakfast. It's after 10 am and I'm sipping cold coffee in a pair of my husband's pajama pants. My oldest is still asleep, my baby down for the first nap of the day in my messy bedroom. I really need to clean the bathrooms today. My daughter stepped on a rusty nail last night in the garden and is laid up on the couch, watching Thumbelina. My toddler is refusing to wear pants today and I'm refusing to argue.
Today I have a knitting custom to finish, just an inch or so left, but it's sitting under a stack of paperwork I need to get to and (most likely) won't. I have made plans to run away to a friend's house this afternoon, preferring talking the afternoon away to facing reality today.
There are dishes in the sink from last night's dinner and the floors are a mess of crumbs. I have a new book on my kindle and would like nothing better than to curl up with it and ignore everything else. I have 2 writing deadlines staring me down.
Fiona is bouncing on the trampoline in the living room. Jonah just smeared his filthy fingers down the dining room window. These pajama pants are really just too comfortable for me to care. Just 5 more minutes before I get moving, please?
Some days, you just have to tell it and live it like it is. Imperfect, messy and possibly even cringe-worthy. Ah, life. It's beautiful, no?
