Broken, Ripped and Stained: Signs of a "Loved-In" House

 I recently read an article where Jennifer Aniston was quoted as saying her house "is like a work of art".  She spent years shopping for all the perfect accessories and it is now complete.  Well, my house is literally a work of art.  Crayon art, marker art, playdough in the grout art, playdough in the carpet art, chalk on the picnic table art; you name it, masterpieces galore abound in this house.  I have to admit I was more than a little envious of Aniston.  She leaves her home in the morning and when she returns-imagine this- everything is Just where she left it.

As I look around my kitchen- just my kitchen-anything within my reach is a little bit broken.  Toaster oven knob just turns and turns but never turns off.  It always smells like flaming toast around here.  The oven lost a knob, somehow, and the favorite burner doesn't work.  The curtains have Pierce's face print on them and my favorite poppy painting has a rip right through the top. Blasted kids.  And the laptop...needless to say the letter J has short-circuted.

We tried to child-proof the furniture, really! If you came over, you'd see leather sofas everywhere.  They are really hard to ruin. Unless, of course, you have kids.  My husband is going to scream when he reads this blog but yup, our sweet little demolition expert Pierce has made his mark upon the clean, white leather-y canvas. 

I dream of the day when the last one goes to kindergarten (Truly, I don't-I'll be a basket case, but just enlighten me.) I am getting one of those dumpsters and chucking every stained, broken, and ripped thing in this house.  I know my house will be bare and yes, I may need 2 dumpsters but it will be glorious.  And, then, I will rebuild my beautiful house with terrific fresh furniture and gorgeous works of art.  And, then, of course, I will cry for hours that I can no longer see the permanent marker that Pierce made or the hole in the poppy canvas that Max made with the football or the smell of burnt toast that Vivi made from the broken toaster oven.  Being surrounded by little priceless works of art, to me, at least for now, is the biggest perk of all.