• Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

The Search for Imperfection | If I Can Do It, You Can Do It

It doesn't have to be perfect, the joy is in the imperfection

  • About
    • About Jennifer
    • Media Kit
    • Disclosure & Privacy Policy
    • Contact
  • Food & Drink
    • Recipes
    • Meal Plans
    • Drinks
    • Party Food
    • My Guest Post Recipes
  • Parenting
    • Pregnancy & Babies
    • Toddlers & Elementary
    • Feeding Your Littles
    • Working Parents
    • 10 Minutes (or Less) Hair Tutorials for Girls
  • Homemaking
    • Crafts & DIY
    • Party Planning
    • Money
    • Scentsy
  • Living
    • Random Musings
    • Semi-Green Living
    • Getting Outside
    • Holiday and Gift Guides
  • All Posts
  • TSFI Shop
This post may contain affiliate links for your convenience, which means at no additional cost to you, I may earn a comission if you click through and make a purchase. Thank you!

Letting Go Of The Pinterest Perfect Home

December 19, 2017 by Jennifer 1 Comment

Alright ladies and gents, we have allowed our imaginations to carry us too far. Ask me how I know? I’ll tell you. We try so hard to measure up, and give in to the false reality of a Pinterest perfect home.

IN our imaginations, we are perfectly put together, completely organized, and our children have perfect manners. Our marriages and other relationships are always going smoothly… And our houses are the pretty Pinterest perfect homes we salivate over on the reg. Am I wrong?

Aaaand, back to reality. The problem with living in an imaginary land is that real life often doesn’t look that way. We can find ourselves feeling very disappointed when our lives don’t mirror the picture we have in our heads of how they should be.

It's time we all let go of the notion of keeping a Pinterest Perfect Home

The Stress of Having a Pinterest Perfect Home

Take your house, for instance. Do you remember the last time you didn’t spend your day stressing over some project or task that you have to complete for your home? There is a never-ending parade of dishes, laundry (don’t get me started on this one), rooms to be vacuumed, toys to be organized, and some people even try to make their beds every day.

Pile of laundry

Our homes require maintenance, certainly, but there are times in life where maybe, just maybe, we need to take a step back and realize that our home is not more important than the people who are living there. If you find that maintaining your home is a source of stress more often than not, you have to ask yourself if you’re setting the expectation bar a bit too high.

When we have a super high expectation of how something is supposed to be, oh boy, we can be relentless. That means our families are feeling the same stress that we are.

I’m not talking about normal cleanliness and hygiene. Because seriously, sometimes if we don’t step in, our homes could be taken over by swamp people and nobody else would notice. What I’m talking about here is the quest for perfection. The overwhelming need for everything to be “just so” that can consume us and leave us feeling inadequate and unworthy.

As Elsa Says… It’s time to let it go

When we are raging at someone for moving a vase, or for making a mess, we are projecting those feelings of inadequacy onto our families. If we struggle with those feelings, do we really want our spouses and our children to feel the same way? I don’t think we do. It may be time for you to begin letting go of the need to have a picture perfect living space.

There is a marked difference between having a home that is clean enough to live in, and a house that is “company ready” at all times. Here is another way our imaginations and comparisons are getting in the way of our happiness.

Some people are naturally organized, and you can visit them any time of day, and they’ll apologize for the “mess” when they have one fork in the sink, and you will look at them like they are absolutely insane. Those people are few and far between.

And then there’s our sink…

Dirty dishes

Despite what you may think, everyone is fighting the same battle for housecleaning that you are. Relax! You don’t have to feel guilty about trying to do it all and slipping in a few areas. Perfection is not something you should aspire to. If you’re trying to decide between an extra minute of kid snuggles, or putting that fork in the sink… go with the snuggles. The fork will be there when your done.

Pinterest homes are best left on Pinterest. Do what you can, discard the rest.

 

Related

Filed Under: Homemaking, Living Tagged With: homemaking, perfection

Previous Post: « 13 Fun Gifts for the Foodie in Your Life
Next Post: Sweet Potato Orange Cups Recipe »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Laura says

    December 22, 2017 at 4:41 pm

    Amen to this post. Be clean and organized enough that you can find things and your kids have enough of a system that every morning is not a disaster getting out the door, but do not obsess over your wrapping paper closet or laundry room. Love on those kids and be available for them and others in need. The kids will grow up and most of the mess will magically disappear with them.
    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Search

Welcome, I'm Jen! I'm here to offer realistic (sometimes semi-green) parenting, eating, and homemaking tips so that you can embrace life and let go of perfection. Because if I can do it, you can do it! Get to know more of Jen →

Free Appetizer eCookbook!

Easy Entertaining Appetizers eCookbook

Don’t Miss Out!

Bonus Access to Our Printables Library

Recent Posts

Lemon Pepper Arugula and Cashew Pesto

Lemon Pepper Arugula and Cashew Pesto

Orange Pale Ale Manhattan - Beer Cocktail

Orange Pale Ale Manhattan – Beer Cocktail

12 Awesome Mother's Day Gift Ideas

12 Mother’s Day Gift Ideas That She Will Actually Love

The Best Mini Crab Cake Recipe

The Best Mini Crab Cake Recipe Ever

Favorite Posts

You're Invited But Please No Gifts

You’re Invited, But Please No Gifts – Ideas for a Gift Free Birthday Party

8 Easy Ways to be a Little More Green

8 Easy Ways to be a Little More Green – If I Can Do It, You Can Do It

How To Camp With Babies And Kids

How to Camp With Babies and Kids – Everything You Need for a Successful Camping Trip

Why We Stopped Eating Family Dinner at the Table

Why We Stopped Eating Family Dinner at the Table

Homemade Snack Bags

Easy Homemade Reusable Snack Bags – A Simple DIY Tutorial

6 Ways to Parent on 2 Hours per Day

6 Ways to Parent on Two Hours a Day

Like Us On Facebook!

Like Us On Facebook!
Love Scentsy

Footer

Categories

Shop Scentsy

Cute Scentsy Mix and Match Warmers

More Ways to Follow!

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to receive notifications of new posts by email.

Welcome, I'm Jen! I'm here to offer realistic (sometimes semi-green) parenting, eating, and homemaking tips so that you can embrace life and let go of perfection. Because if I can do it, you can do it! Get to know more of Jen →

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Copyright © 2022 · by Shay Bocks · Built on the Genesis Framework · Powered by WordPress