Parenting & Home Buying / Selling – the Forgotten Connection

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Like a smack in my face, the last month has flown by. With it came the busiest and most joyous time of the year for so many of us. Personally, for our family, it was literally (to be blatently honest) the most insane, sweat-inducing, emotionally-wacky, somewhat spastic and yet glorious days of our lives. In 27 days my family of four managed to move into a new home, celebrate Christmas 6 times, enjoy 3 birthdays, reminisce on 1 anniversary, put our old home on the market, AND (thankfully and to our surprise) after 5 days on the market refer to that same home (where I brought my babies home to…sniff sniff) as “sale pending.” Yes. In 27 days. No. We are not divorced, overdosing on Lucky Charms, or walking around like zombies (though, we are close).

During this whirlwind season, I have learned a lot about my myself. I can honestly say that for the first time I truly just sat back and let go. I really did listen to Elsa as she pranced along Ice Mountain in her glitzy dress and (what had to be) uncomfortable ice blue stilettos. I let it GO. IMG_1119

There were moments, during this home buying, moving, prepping for the market, negotiating with buyers, etc of ‘gahhhh. what are we doing?!’ but I would like to think that was normal. I mean, come on, did you read that list above? 27 days people. 27 days! I am sure, at some point in our lives, we ALL have had an insane consecutive 27 days of madness. Do me a favor, look back in your calendar, or better yet, look in the mirror. Pure insanity. Pure JOYOUS insanity – which parallelled something I never thought it would – one simple word – PARENTING. That’s right friends. Buying and selling a home is so much like parenting, it’s actually scary. I mean, maybe realtors and parenting experts talk secretly behind our backs and make sure the experiences of both are identical. Have I been missing out this entire time? If so, I figured it out now, so that’s what matters. How are they connected? Here you go. These are my top 4, in no particular order, because trust me – I could have listed about 2939 other things.

Patience – do I even need to explain? The amount of patience required on a daily (heck, minute by minute) basis are immeasurable – in both the realm of home buying/selling AND parenting. It’s like a test, every second, to see if you can be more patient then you just were. To let go of what you cannot control while at the same time taking deep breaths and hoping the next scenario about to be presented will mirror exactly what you were hoping for. Whether or not you have to go back to square one, patience is required, and necessary.

Patience is definitely a virtue.

Bite your lip – yup. get out the EOS in your favorite flavor! Sometimes keeping your mouth shut is a standard in both parenting and real estate. You may feel one method, approach, or request should be sufficient or produce the ‘obvious’ response, but many times you are incorrect. You think every prospective buyer will love your house, and that everyone who sees your new home will love it – and they come back with a negative comment before a positive. Bite your lip. You really don’t understand why your daughter is throwing a tantrum over you giving her the muffin that came from the green silicone mold vs the pink – but she does. Bite your lip.

Sometimes, quite honestly, it’s not worth the struggle and drama. So. Bite your lip.

Clear out the Crappola – ahh one of my favs. Is there a KonMari of parenting? Someone, FIND HER! In both parenting and home buying / selling, one must learn to sift thru the crap. Yup. Junk, clutter, unnecessary stuff. This my friend, is probably (besides patience, dear Lord, grant me patience!!) one of the things I am constantly addressing. The clutter in my parenting and the clutter (in boxes) I need to unpack and get rid of. I have a passion for purging things I don’t need that are lingering around my house, and it definitely seems easier then clearing out the clutter in my box of parenting tools.  It is so easy to get caught up in how this friend disciplines, this grandparent share his/her parenting experiences, this book tells you how to get your kids to listen. GAH. Sometimes it all becomes clutter – and we need to sift through it, stop pinning the Pinterest pins (guilty here!) and figure out what works for us. Struggle. Yes. The struggle is real in both the box unpacking and the parenting. Crappola – must clear it out.

Must sift and determine what are the treasures.

New Day, New Chances – This, dear mamas, may be everything condensed into one fragmented phrase. New day, new chances.  You wait patiently for that perfect new home to come around, and it doesn’t. So you wait for what seems like forever. You give up, you search again, you shrug your shoulders and forget about it.  You have a horrible parenting day, you are about to pull your hair out, throw soup across the room, go on strike from washing dishes, and opt for a dirty messy hair bun. Yes. We all have had days like this, whether with house hunting or parenting. The best part about this is that tomorrow is a new day. That’s right. Clean slate. New day. New chances. New ways to listen, to respond, to search. New ways to explore, to forget, and to hammer through.

Thank God for new days and new chances!

See fellow multitasking mamas – it’s not JUST about ‘Home Sweet Home’, it’s also about ‘Parenting Sweet Parenting.’ Fist bump to those realtors and parenting gurus who have had us fooled all this time.

 

home sweet home

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Stephanie
Hiya Mamas! I'm Stephanie, mother of 2 little ladies, wife to a 6'4 IT guy, occupational therapist, small health business owner, Sinclair adjunct faculty member, avid UD flyer fan, and a contributor for this awesomely lovely blog! Welcome! After growing up in Beavercreek, I received my BA in Psychology and my Master of Occupational Therapy, both from Chatham College in Pittsburgh, PA. In essence, Im a city lover and a farm-girl all wrapped up in one. Against everything I could possibly control (insert - 'wanted to move far away') , I moved back to Ohio after grad school, started working as an OT, met my husband, and will never leave. Nope. Im 937 for life. I love roasted broccoli, smoothees, and sparkling water, with a side of dark roast coffee and almond milk creamer. My 'me time' consists of HIIT training, long walks, exploring local, trying new foods, and following a strict 'flip flops until the first snow' rule. I have either been pregnant or breastfeeding non stop since 2011 - so ask me anything about either one of those topics and I am sure I can give you some sort of (comical) insight. My heart is with serving others, and I have had the opportunity to serve on mission trips to Montana twice, and on occupational therapy mission trips to Guatemala twice. I am hoping when the littles get older (not that I am in a rush - stop growing already!) I can give more time to local organizations in need of volunteers. We love our new church, our new neighborhood park, and our new home, all which we acquired in the past year. Happy blog reading my friends!