Good intentions and imperfections

Today's post is less about education and more about patting ourselves on the back for our good intentions and allowing and accepting our imperfections. 

This is important for all parents...or anyone that works with kids. What can we do about the chaos in our lives? We can laugh at it! 

When you have children your daily life becomes chaos. You think to yourself; as soon as I can sleep through the night things will get better. I will get organized. Then they sleep through the night and and you all of a sudden have way more stuff to organize.

Then you think to yourself; as soon as they go to school I will be able to keep my house clean. But then you are working longer hours and the kids are making their own projects and messes. And the stuff! More and more stuff piles into your house at a quicker pace than you can bring it to the curb. 

So a few years ago, I became extremely frustrated with the fact that leaving the house took FOREVER. Getting 3 kids ready to head out the door seemed like a daunting task and being on time appeared to be near impossible. Someone was missing a mitten, another couldn't find their homework. someone lost a shoe (really? how does that even happen?) and so on. You get the picture. 

That's when I got the wonderful idea to get a shelving unit to help organize. No more searching for things. No more emptying the entire closet to find a boot. No more kids fighting over who's mitten is who's. I would have everything labelled, organized and of course, pretty. 

In my mind, this is what I pictured: 

See the places for all my nice high heels?

Things all nicely folded?

Baskets organized and efficient?

I even envisioned something along these lines for the kids school work and supplies:

Notice the decorative plants on top?

All the perfectly labeled baskets, bins and binders?

Now, a few years later and a few years wiser, I recognize that those were wonderful thoughts. FANTASY thoughts. Because in my household things look more like this:

Notice the lizard tank in lieu of the pretty potted plants?

See the junk overflowing in each of the baskets?

The labels are long gone and I think that is a broken hook in front of the terrarium. 

(This is even tidier than usual because all the kids and all of their snow gear are gone to school.)

So the moral of the story is to embrace the non-perfectness. 

Did I have good intentions? Yes. 

Is it imperfect? Yes sir. 

And I will take it as it is! 

Enjoy the chaos that is you life and remember to cut yourself some slack. :)

Hope and happiness, 

Shaunessy