Pinterest Perfect

When I was younger, like way younger, I had a friend who told me that my parents were rich. I had absolutely no clue what she was talking about. My parents were my parents. We lived in a nice house, with a yard, pond and woods. It never occurred to me that maybe I had more or less than anyone else I knew. I liked it fine that way. Some friends were lucky enough to live near town, and near the ice cream shop! Some had neighborhood friends with playgrounds near by. Some of my friends could walk to school others had ponds like me. In any case I never really took notice to any of that.

Now I notice everything. I feel like when I peruse Pinterest for party ideas or decor ideas I am given a barrage of pictures of how I should be landscaping, cleaning, organizing and decorating. It always looks so serene, calming and everyone is perpetually happy. Then I go home.

I am never going to be Pinterest perfect. Mostly because I'm a fabulous cook and a terrible housekeeper. I feel like if your house is perfectly decorated and perfectly cleaned right down to every piece of trim you probably aren't making your meals from scratch. I know that there are exceptions. But the norm at my house is for me to try a new recipe and then serve it on paper plates. Mostly due to ease of clean up. And also because I don't want to spend time doing the dishes.

The other issue I have with this perceived perfection is who has the money or time to create this? I barely can remember to pay the cable bill (and I mostly pay it so that I can continue my Shonda Rhimes/ Pinot Grigio habit). Who are these families that have it all? I am the person that double clicks on their latest post to see if their trim is dirty. I'm sorry, that's rude, but I'm comparing it to my dirty trim. It seems I can't strike a balance. If my kids are happy and laughing and photoworthy I probably haven't vacuumed recently. Or, if I'm entertaining and I'm taking photos of my food display (I know, I know, that's another post) and my house is pristine, then I'm exhausted and my kids are somewhere else, probably dirty, too.

At 40 I now know that Pinterest Perfection will never happen. I live in a split level that is perpetually under construction. We have a big backyard, full of toys and echoing laughter. We have a large kitchen perfect for my need to feed, but the trim is dirty and likely something needs scrubbed. I'm just starting to be ok with that, I can't expect perfection if one of my greatest joys cooking my family dinner and then watching Olivia Pope outwit her father.