I've Been Framing

What I Don't Show You (and Why I Blog Carefully)

 

I've been thinking about something for awhile now and, WHAM, out of the blue I find another blogger has beaten me to it! Sarah Small at Small World at Home wrote a post about how she tends to edit her life when she blogs. She brilliantly posts her lovely pics beside the unedited/uncropped photo that includes the dirty, messy, broken, and unattractive side of the same view.

 

While I don’t do the kind of gorgeous photography that Sarah does, my pics seem to show my clutter (!), I do post words that tend to show the positive, easy, lovely, clever, creative, well-functioning, brilliant, and beautiful side of our lives.

  

Of course our lives aren’t perfect!  Please never click away from my blog feeling WORSE because you think I have all of my ducks in a row. My ducks are as scattered as the next guy’s ducks. In my enthusiasm and dedication to support and encourage other homeschoolers and/or atheists in their lifestyles, I do tend to focus on the positive. That is my nature, actually. It’s not that the crap and the crud of life isn’t here, it’s that I tend to reframe those things for myself.

 

For example, we are MOVING to Australia!

  WOO HOO!

 

Wanna see the mess of my home today??? I have dozens of things on Craigslist, dozens of people walking through the disaster of my house to “shop” for my stuff or for books from my Please-Close-Soon homeschool store, bags of donation, bags of trash, boxes to store, and even MORE that still needs donating/trashing/storing. 

 

My trash can in the kitchen stinks. When you turn on the oven, stuff burns inside. The pantry is overflowing with Shake N Bake but no other real food. The dishwasher is broken and needs replacing or repairing. The kids' rooms are overflowing. I have a STORE in my basement. I seem to be a bit of a hoarder where family stuff is concerned. I have mail that needed to go out last week. It's dusty here. Someone spilled salt in the kitchen and it's still there. I think I accidentally threw away the check book. I can't walk through the family room. The door is off the frame downstairs. I made a potpourri of lunch things today...trying to empty out the freezer. We're out of ketchup, soy sauce, and milk. My store signs tore paint off of the wall.  We have a kid coming in town this weekend to spend THE WEEK.

 

The kids? Bonobo has been on the computer all morning with a friend, The Doctor has friends over, and everyone has been eating and making messes on every square inch of this house. 

 

Two people are due within the hour to pick up Craigslisted stuff and two people are arriving to shop the homeschool stuff. IN THIS mortifying HOUSE!  LOL 

 

The Doctor is refusing to be kind to Bonobo while her friends are here and she's a bit...testy. Bonobo is bored beyond belief and keeps needing me to take him places, get people here, and generally entertain him. Lessons? Well, we did some yesterday, but otherwise: BAA HAA HAAAAAA!

 

I think you get the idea. I'm sure you are forgiving ALL of that stuff...so forgive your own too.

I’m not perfect; Sarah is not perfect; you’re not perfect. But, somehow, we are all capable of real beauty and joy, if only we choose to focus on it.

Peace. 

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I will be hostessing the upcoming  

Carnival of Homeschooling!
Please submit your homeschool blog post ASAP!