Where Life Happens

Kelle is having a giveaway on her blog…but it’s not as simple as leaving a comment.

She asks that you photograph “where life occurs in your home“.

So, I thought about that idea.

Not so much to win a prize, (because my photog skills will NEVER win me a prize) but it just got me thinking in general.

It was hard to choose.

Henry’s room is a cuddle fest with all three curled up on his small twin bed after naps.  “Mama, get the babies.  I want to cuddle in my bed.”

The kitchen is no doubt the most used room in all the house.

But then I thought about the playroom.

These photos aren’t amazing.

A photographer I am not.

They’re really bad photos actually to the random viewer.

But they capture so many things to me.

This playroom…let me clarify…was once our formal dining room.

It used to house a gorgeous dining table and cream(!) colored upholstered chairs.

A chandelier hung from the ceiling.

Glass candlesticks and pretty virgin PotteryBarn candles.

I spent countless hours scouring furniture stores, craigslist and yard sales looking for just the right table.

And then…

…we had three kids in the span of 24 months and 3 weeks.

And then, I quit my job and was a stay at home mom.

And the pretty dining room table suddenly felt obtrusive, huge, unnecessary…and was nothing more than another thing to dust.

All the while, toys littered my living room and crunched painfully under my bare feet.

And every time I yelped, tripped, or kicked away a toy, I glared at that table I once loved.

HGTV would have my head.

Not using a room for its intended purpose.

I would have once proclaimed that I would *never* do something like this.

And yet, here it is.

My undeniably functional and useful playroom.

Where Lucy follows Henry around trying to do whatever he is doing because she thinks she is years older than her 9 months.

Where Jill practices rolling and scooting.

Where therapy sessions are held twice a week.

Where my 6’3″ husband perches himself on one of those teeny wooden chairs and drinks a beer at the end of the day and watches the kids play.

Where toys are scattered and its not only okay, but expected.

Where my son wears a Lakers jersey and pj pants and I am fine with it…and it’s 3:00 in the afternoon.

Poor, un-artistic photos yes.

But a poignant picture of how our priorities have changed.

How our outlook and opinions are different.

How our life has been rearranged.

Bad pictures.  Don’t care.

Because it is our picture.  It is our life.

And I love it.

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jeannett
I'm a mom to four. A wife to one. I believe in story. I love telling you about mine and would love to hear yours. There's really no sense in wasting our suffering and not sharing in each other's joy. We're all in this together...even if it doesn't always feel like it.
jeannett
jeannett

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Comments

  1. 1

    I love your pics and that playroom is AWESOME!

    Even I want to come over and play!

  2. 2

    I LOVE this. These are the things your kids will remember twenty years from now.

  3. 3

    You just described my playroom. Tell Lucy I see her scooting around and presumably pulling herself up. Good heavens! We also had to gently break it to Marissa that she was, in fact, not the same age as her sister. I love the after nap cuddle: “Get the babies…”
    Yeah, that’s the good stuff.

  4. 4

    so good. so true. have i told you before i love the way you write? cuz i do!