Pottery Barn Perfect
Just wondering why it’s so hard for me to actually complete everything. I must have adult onset ADD. Or maybe I’ve always had it and my parents just managed it. I’ve cleaned two rooms - the real kind of cleaning that includes dusting and vacuuming and moving furniture - hung a few pictures in the hallway, went through the home office and started to clear it up.
And all I can think about is that 7 is having a play date on Tuesday with a younger boy and his younger sister. Their mom is going through the big D and is dating a guy who may or may not be really great. She and I have known each other through work, are the same age, and live just a few miles from each other. The main differences are that she and her X are/were very successful and she lives in a Very Big House that looks Pottery Barn Perfect. The amount of clutter is actually zero.
So this stresses me out. My house isn’t hardwood floor perfect. I have random antiques and traditional furniture. And carpet. Hideous carpet. Yet the Play Date is just around the corner. Can I make it all good enough? Probably not but this is the true test of friendship - even a new friendship - is the Best I Can Do going to be Good Enough?
Now I always think in my head that if I didn’t work in theatre administration - or if I was an exec at a big house - and if I did have a fabulous job that included sales bonuses etc. that my house would be transformed into a super neat, clutter-free, spectacular spectacle. You know, because I’d have a maid. Like in the good old, not really good though because of the emotional vacuum I was married to, double income days tht included bi-weekly maid service.
But I don’t. So I’ve realized in the last year since my own Big D that I have accumulated an inordinate amount of stuff. I’ve learned that I’ve spoiled 7 beyond what I should have and that he is none the better for it.
Each weekend I attempt to de-clutter. I realize that I don’t actually need all this stuff that I’ve inherited from my long-passed mother and that I can actually throw it away without it being an affront to her memory and legacy.
I’ve also learned never to underestimate the need for power tools. I really need a drill. I might actually have to go to a mall that has a Sears in it. Yuch.
