I sometimes wonder if I would have been helped as a young bride and later, as a young mother, by all of the information that can be found today on blogs and Pinterest. I think so. However, a woman of about my age and years of marriage, with a nature similar to mine (easily distracted by people, books, and pets) mentioned on her blog that she might have found herself reading when she should have been doing. I can fritter away time in blogland now, so it's foolish to think that I wouldn't have then. Of course, women (and men) of my age had fun ways to become distracted even before the Internet became as populated as it is now. There was always the phone, the magazine, the book, the library, the friend, the in-real-life neighbor, etc. We also had ways to compare ourselves to the skill and means of others and make ourselves feel bad as a result. The twin temptations of distraction and discontent are just so in your face nowadays that I do feel for young women of today.
I bought a white couch in my brief moment of having my own apartment. That was my nod to household glamour. My husband proposed to me and left to go to another state for a job. Rather than to renew my lease, I moved back in with my parents to finish up my local job and to plan my marriage. I look back fondly on that couch, for I brought it with me when we married, and my husband I kept it for several years. By the time it was ready to go, however, it was no longer a pristine white. Between the pets and the babies, it didn't stand a chance. LOL. That was my first lesson in what looks good on the glossy page is not necessarily the best idea for my family.
I used to think that a great percentage of making a house tidy and comfortable was in the decorating. Of course, it is important to create as attractive a setting as possible. However, I've found that a shabby room neatly kept trumps a perfectly decorated but unkempt room every time. Somehow, a home fills itself with the love and memories of a family, and that is what the inhabitants and guests truly respond to.
I adore Pinterest and home living blogs. I think it's so important, however, that women realize that we won't ever complete all of the ideas that we pin or even that we read about. These things can spur us on, but they shouldn't be a basis for feeling discouraged about what we can do.
When feeling a case of "but it looks so easy on the Internet, why doesn't it work for me?", it's good to remember that
1) people are more important than things.
2) parties, especially children's parties, are not competitions, but settings for people to have fun and deepen relationships.
3) weddings are not competitions, but the uniting of a man and a woman in the sight of God and of family and friends.
4) dressing is a daily necessity that does allow us room to express ourselves, but it's not a competitive sport.
5) keeping a home reasonably functional, attractive, tidy, and clean is the goal; again, it's not a competition.
Blogs and Pinterest are today's equivalents of magazines and newspapers. How much time would Grandma have spent pouring over the newspaper or a magazine? She probably did acquaint herself with current events. Likewise, she probably clipped coupons or recipes and kept herself up to date on what hemlines and necklines were in style for the year. She might have followed a few favorite subjects, such as pertained to a career or to a casual interest. Most likely, she knew when to put the magazines and the newspaper down and when to get up and go about her day. We can learn a lot from Grandma.
Enjoy!
