05 June 2012
A very very very fine house
OK, so whenever that was we were having this talk about how to be the most perfectest homemaker and have a lovely home that everyone thinks is so lovely. And there's the, "You never know when the Better Homes and Gardens photo crew might stop by, and who can really be happy if there's grub on the blinds?" camp, and there's the, "If your house looks like a Better Home and Garden and you spend the whole time wiping microinvertebrates off the fridge handle I'm too afraid to visit" camp. And then there's me and my resignation to a house that looks the way it looks (which I think would be something like, not terrible, not great) and an inability to care that much what anyone thinks about it.
But then I visited a house, and it was Cheryl's house, and we had such a nice day even though I brought six kids with me and it was raining and we didn't do anything fancy (except, oh yeah, listen to an unbelievable concert by Cheryl's kids and bum an organ lesson off the Kantor, who happened to be having a birthday the same day a bunch of hungry urchins showed up on his doorstep), and I was like, well what was so great about that anyway?
What was great is that Cheryl is a gracious lady and her husband is a kindly lord and her mother is an honorable matriarch and her children are polite and personable and generous and patient, not to mention that you've never met a more modest group of ridiculously gifted people. I honestly couldn't tell you if Cheryl dusted before we got there or wiped all the hair off the edge of her bathtub (although she probably did). I was too busy having fun, eating a nice lunch, and getting forgiven for all the barbarisms my children were committing* at Cheryl's house to notice.
I know this doesn't totally solve the housewife's dilemma of just how sinful it is not to get the clean laundry put away before you need the basket again, but I thought it was informative.
(PS, Cheryl--I put the Dr. Seuss book on top of the Europe puzzle. Gah!)
*What were they even thinking?
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4 comments:
"we had such a nice day even though I brought six kids with me"
Because. Because you brought six kids with you. I particularly enjoyed the one that took a nap on me. :-D
"who happened to be having a birthday the same day a bunch of hungry urchins showed up on his doorstep"
A more festive singing of the birthday song he has not had in a long time!
"I honestly couldn't tell you if Cheryl dusted before we got there or wiped all the hair off the edge of her bathtub"
Yes to the first (it was time), no to the second. And you may recall that we didn't let you go upstairs. :-)
"getting forgiven for all the barbarisms my children were committing"
They were only trying to keep up with my 8yo. Come on, Mom, give them a break.
And thanks for the tip on the book! Luckily, Evan did notice its placement; otherwise, we might not have read it until today. :-)
Rebekah, if you'd just come drop in on us some night, your six kids would merely get lost in the mix of our six kids and no one would be the wiser about any of the various barbarisms. See? Just think about it. :P :D
And Cheryl, I think it would be just grand to meet you and your lovely family some day. :)
Rebekah, I love this post, having been there so many times. Feeling like our family just invaded someone's house. It sure was nice when someone enjoyed having all of us. Very gracious people.
Leah, I wholeheartedly agree!
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