Redefining Perfection in Everyday Life and Parenting
When we do a big shop, we like to use the local supermarket’s delivery service! Since we get paid once a month, we tend to buy our non-perishables monthly, too. A big shop like that takes a bit of planning and preparation, but we find that the effort is worth it as we end up saving money in the long run.
Last night my online grocery order arrived. Being the great housewife I like to pretend I am, I told my husband to just leave it all till morning! I had a plan: I was going to remove everything from the pantry, give the shelves a good wipe, and categorise everything. The pantry was going to be perfect, just the way I like it!
Life with three kids has mysterious ways of forcing me to let go of my perfectionism! This morning it was in the form of the most beautiful gesture from my amazing 6yo son! He involved his 5yo sister, and together, they put away all the groceries!
So the pantry door doesn’t completely shut, and everything is out of the usual order… While in the past I may have ended up with heart palpitations just looking at it, today I’m able to see the beauty of the gesture. The pantry is perfect! So are my kids. So is my life!
Just the way I like it! ;)
❤
-A-
Thanks for dropping by my blog! 💐 Awww this is such a sweet story. Your kids are amazing! 😊
I love when my girls help me… it’s even better when they do it WITHOUT me asking! What great help your kiddos were! Doesn’t it feel great!
That was so sweet. I don’t have kids yet but I have a mom who wants to keep everything neat and organized. She cannot do this always because it gives her a lot of stress. When I have a family, I would like to spend more time with them rather than being a perfectionist always.
I’m a true believer in “Good Enough”. My poor sister has never been okay with that and still strives for perfection… and then wonders why she looks 5 years older than me (she’s a year younger). Perfection is something that she will never attain because it doesn’t really exist.
Thank you so much for this post. I am definitely blessed with what I have.
*Hugs*
So sweet- I love this. I once thought I’d help my mom when she went to work by cleaning the whole house with comet cleanser! Left a white film over the whole house. She never said anything- just thank you. Later she confessed she stayed up an extra two hours cleaning the comet cleanser off everything. Being a mom…
It’s so sweet that your kids wanted to help so much! I love when my kids do stuff like that too – it really eats at my need for things to be “perfect” but I try to appreciate the gesture, knowing that it means so much to them, and that my appreciation nurtures a spirit of giving in them.
Perfectionism is hard to have when you are a parent! I think that letting go of that need will help enjoy the beauty of life as a parent so much more. I think what your kids did was such a lovely thing and you were exactly right seeing the beauty in the gesture instead of seeing that everything was messy and out of order.
Awww!!! That’s so cute that your kids wished to help you with putting away the groceries. Teaching them we value their help makes it so they want to help more.
What a sweet thing, you have lovely kids. Try doing a shelf at a time instead. It will give you an accomplishment without the extra effort.
It is so hard to get anything done with kids, especially little kids! My house is a wreck and every time I clean one area they are messing up another!
I am a perfectionist, or better… I try to be…!
But if this means being stressed, it isn’t good, so I learned to let go of some things sometimes!
My pantry is never a good looking one, it is all messy and I am tired of re-arranging it everyday now I like it that way.
Awww I think your kids did a wonderful job. I’m so glad you can see that as well. I love it when the grand kids help me, although I fix everything back when they go home, lol.
I let go of perfectionism long ago. I realized being perfect would be too stressful. Our pantry is always a mess!
One of my biggest flaws is perfectionism. I tend to sometimes fall into this bubble of wanting everything perfect and then I come to my senses that it’s just impossible. Not only does this build my stress but it makes me unhappy as well. So I’ve learnt to just let it go and enjoy what I have. Thank you for sharing this post and to remind me of why its no good:)