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.

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.

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…

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.