I know what you’re thinking, this is NOT that kind of post.
I’ll tell you what kind of post this is, though … it’s a real-life account of the hub of my home, and all the reasons it drives me crazy.
You see, in our house, we have a snack bar that separates the living room from the kitchen. It’s a very open concept, so this is where ALL THE LIFE happens. More of a peninsula than an island, it houses the sink sandwiched by two sections of countertop. It’s super functional … when it’s usable. To give you a little history of how things operate around here, the stacking spot used to be the dinner table. When I say stacking spot, I mean the literal dumping ground of ALL THE STUFF. Test papers, permission slips, junk mail, shopping bags, art projects, random playing cards, markers without caps, spare keys and so many other things found a temporary home on the table. Temporary, because most nights we eat dinner together so I managed to clean off the table to make room for the five of us. But instead of putting it all away (because who has time for that?), I really just shuffled the stacks and changed their location, from the table to the snack bar. Over time, because I’m such a fast learner, I cut out the middle man, and bypassed the table all together, headed straight for the new spot.
Take ALL THE LIFE, add ALL THE STUFF, and there goes ALL THE SPACE.
Exhibit A – The Good. Seeing this is basically like seeing a solar eclipse; few people have ever witnessed such a sight and you probably shouldn’t look directly at it …
Exhibit B – The Bad. Trust me, this is nowhere near the worst it’s ever been. I took this picture on a Monday, Thursday’s are always the peak of messiness around here so imagine another three days on top of this. That Go-gurt box was empty, the diaper doesn’t belong to us and that’s what happens when a 6-year-old tries to open a box of Goldfish alone. Even though I’m the culprit, the clutter drives me crazy. This is the first thing you see when you walk in, from EITHER DOOR. There’s no hiding this, and no denying the fact that we are m-e-s-s-y p-e-o-p-l-e.
Exhibit C- The Ugly, because one day I HAD ENOUGH. I couldn’t bear the thought of spinning my wheels cleaning this section of tiles off AGAIN, only to have it collect more clutter within a matter of hours. I couldn’t look at the stacks for another minute and so in a moment of desperation, I did the thing I’d been threatening myself to do for months … and guess what, it works!
In the spirit of honesty, my family thought I was nuts and every single person that walked into our home asked about it. But my husband is one of the most tolerant men I’ve ever met, and my kids know that it’s easier to amuse me than buck the system, so the X has been with us since early January. I know this sounds completely dramatic, but the X makes me better! I’m calmer without the clutter, which makes me a better mom. I’m in the habit of actually putting the stuff away (in the new stack spot, of course) and at the end of the day, I feel like an accomplished human being.
It seems silly to give this big, blue X all the credit, but I do. Our friends and neighbors have come to expect it, and I’ve even started referring to it like a member of the family. If you come over soon, don’t be alarmed, the integrity of the counter is intact, that’s just my X hanging out with me in the kitchen.
