We are trying to sell our house and I’m emphasizing the word “trying”. The market is horrible and we aren’t having much luck. So when the realtor office calls to make an appointment for a viewing, we get very zealous in our efforts to make everything look as perfect as we can.
One of the things we do of course is de-clutter the most cluttered room in most American homes – the kitchen. Since we have a toddler and very busy lives we have one of those refrigerators where the outside is so covered up with calendars, grocery lists, photographs, inspirational sayings, drawings and of course magnets. So many magnets holding up so much stuff that no one truly knows the color of the outside of our refrigerator.
So, one of things that must be done is to remove all of those things clinging to the outside of the refrigerator like barnacles to a boat. Not to mention all the other stuff that collects on the counter. This requires a good size plastic container with a lid so it can be literally thrown into a closet on our way out the door moments before the potential buyers pull into the driveway.
I wonder if they can hear from outside the banging of stuff hitting the back wall of the closets and the slamming of doors and know that we truly do not live this clutter free of a life? I feel sort of like I’m living a lie when I look around our gleaming rooms so free of personal things as if a very impersonal, organized, almost perfect family lives here when in actuality a very busy and a very imperfect family does.
Upon arriving home I feel a sense of relief I don’t have to clean anymore today and there is something soothing about coming home to a clean house. It certainly is good for the soul to live a cluttered free, clean house type of life, even though my subconscious knows the closets are about ready to blow with all the stuff crammed inside.
I stop, breathe deep and relish in the moment of cleanliness for just a moment. I’m awakened from my Zen type state with the crash of cars being dumped out of the toy box all over the floor and the sounds of normal life starting to wind back up. I’m happy and hopeful for the moment, but it’s the stark nakedness of the refrigerator that causes me to stop and ponder a bit.
I’m reminded of a time in my life when my refrigerator was always clean and clutter free and you’d think I would long for that time, but actually it reminded me of a sadder, more lonelier time when I was by myself. I never want to go back there again. I want my cluttered fridge back!
When we start to put everything back on the refrigerator, my son putting his magnets and drawings back on and me putting all the calendars, lists, etc back on I’m filled with a sense of happiness and gratefulness.
This cluttered, over-full refrigerator is a sign that a real family lives here, with all the joy and laughter and love that is reflected in every magnet holding up every crayon scribbled drawing and long to do lists. I smile as the clutter transforms the kitchen back into “our” kitchen and truth be told, I wouldn’t trade my refrigerator for anything in the world, except maybe a bigger one, of course.
I think we need to go out and get some more magnets, we have a lot more life yet to add to the old “icebox.”
Julie
*If you are a stay-at-home mom who has ever struggled to make ends meet, or a working mother who would like to transition to a business that allows you to spend more time with your family, then Project MAHMA is for you!
Project MAHMA(Moms at Home Making A Difference…and a Lot of Money!) is a global coalition of moms (and dads) who are earning an income from home and giving themselves the gift of freedom— including more time with their families—while at the same time offering others the gift of better health and a better life.
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