Kids playing in the snow with the For Sale sign in the background.
And I can tell you it's been a process getting our house ready to sell. Lots of packing. Lots of decluttering. Lots of projects.
Our house is small--a perfect starter home. I adored it. Real wood floors. Bright kitchen with yellow countertops (I'm in love with yellow and white kitchens) overlooking the dining room. And a basement with great storage and a finished space for playing or movies. It was perfect. Until I had twins.
Going from one to three children was ridiculously crazy. You expect your toys and baby stuff to multiply when you go from one to two children. But when you go from one to three children...your house explodes with double everything. I thought once we got out of the baby phase, we could donate our baby stuff (yeah, we're done having kids) and go back to the perfect fit in our cute house.
Nope! The older the kids get, the more toys, clothes, and miscellaneous knick-knacks we accumulate. I started sorting and bagging baby clothes and toys, lovingly unloading them on friends and families, but it didn't help. With each new birthday and Christmas, I unpacked more and more random objects. I began to think I was crazy. Other people have multiple kids with the same amount of crap--er, blessings, so what was I doing wrong? My mom had the answer. "Your house is too small."
I tried to argue. I had the perfect home in a picture-perfect neighborhood, a mere walk from the park and Dairy Queen (and Kroger). My neighbors are awesome and adore my children (seriously, one of the older ladies in our neighborhood still brings the kids suckers from the bank and drops them in our mailbox). We have a spacious attic and plenty of storage in the basement. What more could I need?
It wasn't until I started looking at other houses closer to our church I realized it. My family was growing and needed more space. The kids needed their own bathroom, bigger closets, and their own play space. I fought it for a long time, clinging to my first home, and now that we've fixed it all up, it's even harder to say goodbye, because it looks so good!
So why move? My son is five years old now and starting kindergarten in the fall. Having my background in teaching, I am a bit particular in what school I want my son to attend. I also want to be closer to my church (where I work once a week at our drop-in daycare) and to my parents' farm. So after many hours painting, changing electrical sockets, sorting and packing, and scrubbing my hands raw, our house is officially on the market...and has been for over a week. We've had two showings so far, and each time, I'm overwhelmed with anxiety (can I get the house clean and kids packed in time?) and sadness. I'll miss this house and chapter of our lives.
Coming next...the reality of house showings and twin three-year-olds potty-training. Yeah, you can see where this is going. Sigh...
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