Hi friends,
The highlights of my week were two visits.
A dear friend came for a visit, and I got the best compliment from her, you guys!
It was her first time visiting my house, and she told me my kids’ rooms were simple and nearly minimalist—a goal I did not even dare to put on my goals list.
This is a big deal, you see, since she was the one who properly introduced me to minimalism in the first place and told me about the book
Simplicity Parenting years ago. Our hard decluttering work this summer has paid off!
The second visit was by my aunt and uncles, who came to see the baby. Such a visit would have caused me huge anxiety back in the day when my house was cluttered and I did not have help in the house. Not this time. It was such a pleasant visit. I even witnessed how I was about to sabotage how good I felt with some negative, untimely comments to my husband about things that did not really matter in the big picture, but thank God I stopped myself (apologized instantly as well), and it all went nicely.
While I forgot to take a group picture, I made sure everyone took a photo with baby Basil. I also had the brilliant idea of creating a video of everyone giving one piece of advice to Basil when he grows up. The outcome was beautiful! Although I got the idea on the same day, I was influenced by and give credit to a great book;
The Art of Gathering.
When you have people over, I learned from this book, the host must steer the gathering. It’s easy to let people engage in side conversations, which we do at most gatherings, but it’s lazy. It takes intention and attention to “remind” people why they are there through creative questions and conversation prompts. I highly recommend this book.
Moreover, as I write this, I notice a major theme emerging: I love my home and finally feel at ease when I think about it. I want to make it pretty, easy to manage, and fun for my kids to spend time in.
I truly made peace with my home.
On another note, this is my last Sunday at home as my maternity leave ends.
I will start a new season on Tuesday and return to work as a mother of three! How do I feel about it? Sad to leave my 11-week-old baby 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. It will be tough, though I am more ready than before. As always, I will keep you posted.
P.S. A favorite song about
Home.
