Keeping It Real

I've noticed something about the blogs I follow: almost every post from each one of them is depicting perfection. Familial bliss. Precise craft and project execution. Sibling harmony. Beautiful light.

I do it too, I know.

But let's be honest... no one's life is that good. Don't get me wrong, life is good... but we're all just human, and with a human existence comes strife, struggle, hurtles, clashes, stress, arguments, and heartache.

In this space, I choose mostly to capture and preserve the best of the best, because I want to remember the absolute best of times, even in the smallest of events and goings-on... and even in the midst of my fair share of tantrums and failures and frustration.

Also, how much fun would a blog be to read if every-other-post was detailing the woes of life? Um, bleh.

However, I do believe there is merit in keeping it real. One day it will be fun to revisit the archives in this space and reminisce about The Good Ol' Days, but for the sake of posterity, let's not forget what's going on behind the scenes...

Pictured:
-Fresh flowers from around the creek, where I picked wild bee balm and black-eye susans with my kiddos, and then later found the first blossoms of lavender in the garden.
-Clear morning air, the garden (which is actually doing a lot better this year than I would have guessed), and a moment of silence and still wherein baby bunnies were spotted along the fence line.
-Early light coming through the blinds in the aptly named Sunshine Room, cleared of toys as the kiddos had yet to descend and where, a few feet lower, the cat takes his morning nap.

Not Pictured:
-The screams of protest from a boy who simply will not accept the fact that he has to stay in his room until a reasonable rising hour when Mama comes and gets him.
-The speeding ticket beside my computer, waiting for my attention.
-The three page to-do list that consists mainly of phone calls and chores that are by no means beautiful, poetic, or blog-worthy, but must be done anyway.
-The large load of laundry waiting for it's turn in the washer, made larger by the 3am sheet change for Sister who is still struggling with nighttime accidents.
-The welts all over the family from the increasingly voracious chiggers, and the burden of realization that it may be the cat that's bringing them to us in the night, after his daily romps in the long grasses... now what to do about that?

Without the bitter, the sweet would not be noteworthy, and on that note, I head out to tackle the day... a day that will have both beauty and ugliness, but a day that I will choose to remember for the beauty of it all.