Home Alone

So. I have absolutely no idea what to do.

I am alone in the house. The dog isn’t even here. The only other thing in the house with a heartbeat is the fish.

Here lies before me a million possibilities…

·        I can clean the house and have it stay that way for a few hours.

·        I can read!!!! (Can you imagine??? In silence!)

·        I can bake those Nutella brownies that I just saw on Pinterest.

·        I can eat them.

·        I can eat them ALL and when everybody gets home I can pretend I never made them!

·        I can go for a walk.

·        I can go for a run!

·        I can just work out at home.

·        I can fold this basket of laundry from yesterday that’s sitting next to me.

·        I can watch a movie. The whole thing!

·        I can polish my toenails.

·        I could clean out the storage area in the basement.

·        I could rake leaves.

·        I could sit down and study the message that was just presented to us at church this morning.

·        I could put on a HAZMAT suit and clean my son’s room.

·        I could go to Target all by myself.

·        I could even go and finish that sewing project that’s impatiently waiting for me that needs to be completed in the next two days.

Seriously! Look at all of this! These are the things we moms dream about when we’re knee-deep in mothering. “If I had a day all to myself I’d ___________.” But when it’s laid out before me it’s almost like I get stage fright. “Well, if I do (a) then I wouldn’t have time for (b.)” And I’d really like to do everything on this list but I’d like to get it all done in an hour so that I can have time to do what I really want to do and that’s just sit on the sofa and stare at the wall because it’s so quiet and I forgot what that sounds like.

Also, when you’re home alone and not at all used to it, why does your house make so many creepy noises?

                                                

 It’s not even noon yet and all of a sudden I’m pretty sure there’s a homicidal clown in my basement.

I hope he likes Nutella brownies.

So, I guess I haven’t resolved a single thing here today. But I have concluded that I have no idea how to entertain myself. I miss my chaos makers. Apparently, I like a   loud, busy house. I think that’s okay. Later today, when everyone returns home and it’s all back to normal and it’s loud and everyone needs me at the same time, I’m going to remind myself how much I missed the noise. And I’m going to say a prayer of gratitude that I’m right where I’m supposed to be.

Now, to plan my escape in case that clown comes upstairs…

If you're average and you know it...clap your hands!

You know those food posts you read all the time on facebook? The ones that say: “On tonight’s menu…Beef Wellington with baby spinach and slivered almonds, and sweet potato soufflé. Oh! And organic chocolate cake made with avocado and broccoli!”? Yeah. You know the ones.

I think it’s great if you can make that! Seriously. And if your kids will eat that? Even better! I don’t care how much chocolate cake I’d put around it, my kids wouldn’t touch an avocado.

But I’ll make spaghetti! My kids will eat that! (Without the sauce) but my kids will eat it. I think that’s okay, right? I mean, I use whole grain noodles. And they’ll drink a glass of milk.

Should I be doing more? Should I make my own pasta sauce? Should I make my own pasta??? What makes a piece of beef “wellington?” How do you soufflé a sweet potato? Why would you put broccoli in chocolate cake?

Why am I even giving any thought to this? Our dinner’s fine... Right? Isn’t it?

                                                                                                                                             

Yes. It’s fine. What I make for dinner is fine.

My point is this: Someone else’s post about how their toddler is being looked at to join the 2016 Olympic team, or how their 6 year old can recite the Declaration of Independence backwards and in Spanish, or how their kids can fly does not make you less of a wonderful mom.

Your kids think you’re great even though they aren’t fluent in Mandarin and eat fish sticks for dinner.

Facebook and Pinterest, in my opinion, have made parenting just that much harder. Don’t get me wrong, I love both forms of social media and use each of them daily, but as I sat down to write this I thought, “Why do we feel the need to impress each other?” “Why do we feel the need to tell people how busy we are?” “Why does that matter?” “Does it matter?”

Maybe it’s fear, or jealousy, or pride. Maybe it’s all three! We want people to like us, right? We all want to be great at something. We see other people enjoying their “perfect” lives. We want that too! How do we get there? We read posts everyday about how perfect her life is. That must be exactly how things are at her house. I mean, it’s right there on facebook! It has to be true!!!

That’s dangerous, folks. Comparing ourselves to others will only lead to disappointment because there will always be someone with more. More skills, more talent, more money. Even those people want more. It doesn’t end.

Here’s a great quote from a family friend: “It doesn’t matter how much money you make, you’re always at a different level of poor.” Ironic coming from a vice president of a company.

So, I say, let’s celebrate the ordinary!! Let’s be content with our macaroni and cheese! Let’s wave our chocolate cake made with chocolate cake in the air and say, “Hey! My children can’t fly nor do they speak Latin! But they do say please and thank you and my son knows how to hold a door for people! We’re average and it’s cool!”