Mother Knows Best

When my mother-in-law came to visit in August, during the tour of the house, she asked if we used the dining room each night. I told her that we’d been living in the house for three months and hadn’t used it yet, but would probably use it over the holidays. She gasped, “You mean this is just wasted space?!”. I told her that it wasn’t really wasted that we intended to use it we just hadn’t yet. It was just easier with the kid to eat in the kitchen where if spaghetti was thrown you didn’t have to wipe it off of an antique china cabinet. She was aghast and suggested that we remove all furniture and turn it into a painting studio for me. While the thought of having a space all my own made my toes tingle, I explained how that would be wasted space for sure since by the time the kids are in bed, I’m too tired to do much painting.
But in the way that a mother-in-law’s comments can, it began to chip away at my resolve. It kept popping into my head. I started seeing that it WAS wasted space. She was 100% right. So, on Monday while Connor was wrecking havoc at preschool, (that’s a whole other entry) we moved the china cabinet to the attic which involved packing up all of the china and Jorma and I carrying it upstairs, breaking down the dining room table and chairs, and moving down the sofa from Connor’s room.
We moved all of the toys and kids crap from the living room into the dining room and do you know… I absolutely LOVE it. Our living room is so unbelievable clean that it makes me happy just looking at it. I mean, spotless. And for our house… that’s quite a feat.

This means if you come over for dinner, you might have to eat in the living room, but at least it will feel like you are eating in a living room and not a daycare center.