I'm a mess
All my married life I've wanted a lovely table. I'm not talking about the actual table, I'm talking about having a nice centerpiece on a clean tablecloth or runner in a clean dining room--the kind of thing you see in interior decorating magazines. Most of the years I've been married, I thought that the reason that I didn't have a nice table because I didn't have a centerpiece.
I realized now that I was wrong. The reason that I don't have a lovely table is because we are a family of messy pigs. I cannot keep a table clean for 5 minutes. I wash all the crumbs and spills off the table (once a week if we're lucky and I have the time) and change the tablecloth, and within mere minutes, someone has dirtied the table again: they've used it as a craft table and left bits of colored paper, tape, scissors, stickers, very small rocks, (etc.) out, used it as a place to dump books, school papers, and newspapers for lack of anywhere else to put them, or eaten something and spilled half of it on the table.
Sigh. How did I learn of my faulty reasoning? Because I finally have a nice centerpiece for Halloween that I've tried to keep out on the table.
The above is today's Halloween Decoration Special Feature. This picture was taken the one moment it has ever looked like it was supposed to. As I have alluded to, the tablecloth is ALWAYS food-stained, bunched up, covered with paper bits (big and small) and odd office supply implements, and generally looking like a food-spewing tornado just blew through.
My mom gave me the lovely black doily. One of her former "tenants" crocheted several for my mom, who then distributed them out to various family members, keeping one for herself of course. It looks a little like a spiderweb, which makes it perfect for Halloween decor. It goes so nicely with the table runner, the tablecloth, and my cheapo Halloween salt and pepper shakers (a Target dollar area find. I got a set for Katie so she has something Halloweeny in her apartment). Usually I have a napkin basket sitting on the doily, but I didn't use it for the picture because a) I want to save it for another Halloween Decoration Special Feature and b) I wanted to show the whole doily.
I'm trying to be better at having a clean table, but it's a long struggle that won't end until all the children are out of the house. There is nowhere else in the house to do homework, to eat, to do crafts, to read the newspaper or to fill out school-required forms. Someday, though...
I realized now that I was wrong. The reason that I don't have a lovely table is because we are a family of messy pigs. I cannot keep a table clean for 5 minutes. I wash all the crumbs and spills off the table (once a week if we're lucky and I have the time) and change the tablecloth, and within mere minutes, someone has dirtied the table again: they've used it as a craft table and left bits of colored paper, tape, scissors, stickers, very small rocks, (etc.) out, used it as a place to dump books, school papers, and newspapers for lack of anywhere else to put them, or eaten something and spilled half of it on the table.
Sigh. How did I learn of my faulty reasoning? Because I finally have a nice centerpiece for Halloween that I've tried to keep out on the table.
The above is today's Halloween Decoration Special Feature. This picture was taken the one moment it has ever looked like it was supposed to. As I have alluded to, the tablecloth is ALWAYS food-stained, bunched up, covered with paper bits (big and small) and odd office supply implements, and generally looking like a food-spewing tornado just blew through.
My mom gave me the lovely black doily. One of her former "tenants" crocheted several for my mom, who then distributed them out to various family members, keeping one for herself of course. It looks a little like a spiderweb, which makes it perfect for Halloween decor. It goes so nicely with the table runner, the tablecloth, and my cheapo Halloween salt and pepper shakers (a Target dollar area find. I got a set for Katie so she has something Halloweeny in her apartment). Usually I have a napkin basket sitting on the doily, but I didn't use it for the picture because a) I want to save it for another Halloween Decoration Special Feature and b) I wanted to show the whole doily.
I'm trying to be better at having a clean table, but it's a long struggle that won't end until all the children are out of the house. There is nowhere else in the house to do homework, to eat, to do crafts, to read the newspaper or to fill out school-required forms. Someday, though...
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