Tuesday, December 12, 2017

This Is What Your Family Chaos Really Looks Like

It was a busy, crazy day and there absolutely wasn't time for this, but the doorbell was ringing and this appointment had been my idea and it was too late to back down now.

On the front porch stood a smiling woman from church, holding her adorable baby on her hip.

She was here because we were teaching a church group how to make Christmas ornaments, and neither of us being the crafty type, we wanted to do a dry-run and make sure we knew what we were doing first.

I'd known today was going to be hectic, but I threw dinner in a crockpot and hoped it would work squeezing this in between gymnastics and the half-hour drive to violin lessons.

I invited her in to what can only be described as the eye of the storm: my older kids were getting home from school, scattering their backpacks everywhere and making a mess of the kitchen as they raided it for snacks.

While we got out our craft materials and started Mod Podging, my 13-year-old started pounding on the piano just a few feet away. My 11-year-old kept coming in to ask for my input on a school project.  The two littlest were fighting over some random vacuum attachments in the middle of the hallway.

Meanwhile, her baby sat beside us quietly gumming a Little People farm animal, a perfect contrast to the chaos of my family swirling around us.

If your kids have ever embarrassed you in public, you've got to read this.  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}

I couldn't stop thinking about how horrified this woman must be.

My kids were like a drunken biker gang compared to her baby, who she assured me was just as serene at home as she was right now.

I hadn't even had time to clean up the house, having just gotten home a few minutes ago myself.

I was sure this sweet woman was one step away from excusing herself to go out to her car to breathe into a paper bag — and to be perfectly honest, so was I. Certainly she was never going to come here again. My face was hot with embarrassment.

It was about when my anxiety was reaching peak velocity that she randomly said, "I love how it feels like a family around here."

Um, excuse me?

She continued, "There's so much activity and beautiful music and your dinner cooking smells so good..."

It took a few moments for me to understand she was actually talking about my house.

And do you know what? She was right. The house felt (and sounded) full of life, and if I'm honest with you that's actually one of my favorite things about having a big family.

So you never know: the next time you feel self-conscious because you're trying to have an adult conversation amid kids who are happy-screaming and dive bombing off the couch and asking you for a million things at once, other people might not see the chaos quite the way you do.

They might just see a happy family.

Have you ever been mortified by your loud family and messy kids? Of course you have, you’re a parent. The next time you’re overwhelmed by all the pressure of modern parenting to have a clean house and perfect kids all the time, read this piece of encouragement for moms. It might look totally different to people on the outside. #parenting #family #messykids #chaos #overwhelmed #messyhouse #encouragement #unremarkablefiles

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5 comments:

Queen Mom Jen said...

This is great! I definitely know that we are so hyper critical of ourselves in a way that others just don't see us or our homes.

Audrey Louise said...

It's definitely all about perspective. I'm so glad your friend was able to see your home in such a warm and positive light (as I'm sure it is!). It sounds like it was really refreshing for you to hear her remind you of your blessed chaos!! We're so critical of ourselves sometimes!

Rosie said...

Oh I love this! Things have been feeling especially chaotic lately, but nobody seems to be as bothered by it as me :)

The Lady Okie said...

Love this! A good reminder for us allto have a different perspective.

PurpleSlob said...

Perspective!