I tend to clean when I feel stress. You can tell when I'm feeling "comfortable" because my house tends to be well, ahem, "comfortable." Perhaps it is some sort of control issue . . . I can control how the inside of my microwave looks even if I can't control whatever "stressor" is occurring in my life. Yesterday, a friend who knows this about me walked into my house and said, "Shauna, are you stressed? Your house is so clean!"
"Well, I'm not stressed now. But, I was yesterday when the Deseret News photographer came over!"
I thought the photographer was going to come over and snap a quick picture of our family. Nope, when I greeted her at the door and asked where she wanted us to be for the picture, she said, "Oh, the plan is for me to follow you around for an hour or two and take pictures of your day." (Gulp!)
Sallie was crying that I had made her get dressed (it was 2:30 in the afternoon!), and Kristen the photographer asked, "Well, what would she be wearing if I wasn't here?" (At least she didn't take pictures of the crying!) Well, Sallie lives in nightgowns (when I ask her to get dressed in the morning, she just switches from the nightgown she slept in to another nightgown) so she went to put on a nightgown. And, of course, it wasn't one of the cute new nightgowns she got from Grandma Sally for her birthday, she choose a a raggedy, old, stained, hand-me-down from Aerie (that means she is the third child to wear it!) And, Kristen the photographer followed me up the stairs to Sallie's room . . . out of the "key area" of cleanliness! Yikes! And, she took pictures! After she put on the old nightgown, Sallie morphed into an adorably cute child (albeit dressed in rags) and asked to have a reading lesson, read a story and practice violin. So, Kristen took a lot of pictures of "raggedy" Sallie and I together.
She did a good job of capturing my day. Negotiating with children (especially Coco) about practicing, practicing, jumping rope, and reading to the children. I told her, that's pretty much how my day goes! The Book-a-neer made a surprise visit, so I added a little bit of spice to the day. I realized we are not a very exciting Friday afternoon family.
You can see the article here:
"Well, I'm not stressed now. But, I was yesterday when the Deseret News photographer came over!"
I thought the photographer was going to come over and snap a quick picture of our family. Nope, when I greeted her at the door and asked where she wanted us to be for the picture, she said, "Oh, the plan is for me to follow you around for an hour or two and take pictures of your day." (Gulp!)
Sallie was crying that I had made her get dressed (it was 2:30 in the afternoon!), and Kristen the photographer asked, "Well, what would she be wearing if I wasn't here?" (At least she didn't take pictures of the crying!) Well, Sallie lives in nightgowns (when I ask her to get dressed in the morning, she just switches from the nightgown she slept in to another nightgown) so she went to put on a nightgown. And, of course, it wasn't one of the cute new nightgowns she got from Grandma Sally for her birthday, she choose a a raggedy, old, stained, hand-me-down from Aerie (that means she is the third child to wear it!) And, Kristen the photographer followed me up the stairs to Sallie's room . . . out of the "key area" of cleanliness! Yikes! And, she took pictures! After she put on the old nightgown, Sallie morphed into an adorably cute child (albeit dressed in rags) and asked to have a reading lesson, read a story and practice violin. So, Kristen took a lot of pictures of "raggedy" Sallie and I together.
She did a good job of capturing my day. Negotiating with children (especially Coco) about practicing, practicing, jumping rope, and reading to the children. I told her, that's pretty much how my day goes! The Book-a-neer made a surprise visit, so I added a little bit of spice to the day. I realized we are not a very exciting Friday afternoon family.
You can see the article here:
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700030794/Utahns-celebrate-American-motherhood.html
More stress came as Kristen informed us that this was slotted for the front page of the newspaper. Aack! It ended up being a small picture of our family on the front page (incumbent Bob Bennett was ousted from the Senate race, so he got a bigger picture!) And, yep, Sallie is front and center in her nightgown! But, we look like what we are . . . an imperfect, yet very happy, family. I am blessed.
More stress came as Kristen informed us that this was slotted for the front page of the newspaper. Aack! It ended up being a small picture of our family on the front page (incumbent Bob Bennett was ousted from the Senate race, so he got a bigger picture!) And, yep, Sallie is front and center in her nightgown! But, we look like what we are . . . an imperfect, yet very happy, family. I am blessed.
Loved the article and your purpose-driven family!
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