My house was messy and no one died.

I had some friends over for a lovely catchup. It had been a few weeks since I had seen them. Usually when I have people coming, I panic clean. I clean, wash, fold, pack away & hide things. This usually takes a full day. I go manic. I am worried that someone may notice that spot of dust, sticky hand print or the pile of washing that needs to be folded. I go completely bonkers. I become a complete mad woman where I yell at the kids that if they dare make a mess that I will hunt them down. But something changed. I thought fuck it! I am not going to keep up this charade. We LIVE in this home & I will let it look lived it. It's not a damn showroom!

I didn't panic clean. I did a general tidy but I did not worry about mopping the floors. I didn't scrub the shower till there was not a water droplet in sight. I didn't pack away the clean washing up. I let it drain on the dish rack. I invited them in and not once did I say, "Please excuse the mess." Nope I just told myself that they were not there for my cleanliness or lack thereof, they were there for me. And do you know what? They did not say once that my house was untidy or a mess. They never once said that my floors were not mopped. They didn't once comment that my kitchen bench had things on it. No one ran out of the house screaming that they were going to die of some disease because I didn't clear off the coffee table. Everyone had a nice time relaxing with shoes off, feet up & guess what? No one died! We all lived to tell the tale of how nice our day was catching up on all the big things in life. 

So I have decided that if you come to my house then expect the chatter to flow freely, endless cups of tea/coffee/shots of vodka but don't think that you will be visiting a showroom because I don't live in one. I live in a home. A home that is filled with love. All I want you to know when you walk through the door is that you are more than welcome to kick off your shoes, put your feet up & relax. Doesn't that sound lovely?