Thrifty. Something that plays a large part in our small home. How do you take a 4 room house and wield it to the needs of 5 people? For starters, if there are children in the home, you trip over toys. Constantly. In every room. You also learn the potty dance really well and treat closet space as a most precious treasure. Without doors on the closets means you can't cram and shut either, it must resonate some semblance of organization. So here we are with our cozy cottage and one momma about to pop her top this winter. Solution? Regroup. Reorganize. Rethink.
Deep deep down I am OCD. My easy going rugged artist LOVES this personality
flaw trait. I have caught those eyes rolling at my ragings on more than one occasion. The small piles of clutter were conspiring behind my back and I promise as soon as one was swept away and put in its proper place than 3 more would appear out of thin air. So I decided to paint one room, the living room. I also REALLY wanted to make this space multipurpose for an abundance of reasons. I quickly discovered it was never a convenient time to paint the largest room in our home. Paint cards became part of the wall decor for months and months. FINALLY I saw an opportunity and I jumped. I purchased 2 cans of
skinny latte and came home eager and willing. I just have to note that my coffee lovin' self liked the paint color BEFORE I saw the title, but how fitting right?!!
The process was painful and grotesque. There are no pictures, because the house was horrible! We took out a desk, added a bookshelf, slimmed down the DVD collection, replanted the children's book collection, sought out new homes for the printer, cookbooks, scrapbook materials, and much much more. So what do you do with little active boys who don't understand how to accomadate their crazed momma?? For starters I kicked them outside anytime it was remotely sunny. But Alabama winters refuse to stay sunny, so of course it rained a severe thunderstorm warning a time or too. I let them
help.
Paint in hair, paint on floor, paint on clothes, and even some paint on the wall!
Grandmother rescued the busy bodies too. But eventually I was stuck with restless over-curious little men. So I did what any sane thinking mom would do, I let them color unattended with whatever was in the coloring box. Yes, I gave them free range on the rest of my home with colors in hand! Thin walls and small spaces allow for eavesdropping rather efficiently. I wasn't too worried. A couple of minutes into this arrangement, Samuel came to me holding a slightly broken crayon... a sliver of blue in one hand and the mostly intact piece in the other.
"Mommy, it's broken, it's brooookkkkkeennnnnn."
" Ehhh, it's not to bad Samuel, you still have plenty to color with. Now scat!"
Samuel sighs, shrugs his shoulders, hands me the crayon and blurts
"I can't be bothered with it mom. You can have it."
The statement through me off enough to just pocket the crayon and keep painting with a slight smile. What kind of personality is coming out in my 3 year old?
