Who's Got It All Together? Not Me!

Today I took a trip to Target to get diapers and everyone's got it together.  I saw so many women who were put together from head to toe.  You'd think the Pinterest people lived in their closet, handing them sweaters, scarves, leggings, and boots, not to mention coordinating jewelry and hair pieces. When I see a woman like that, I think, "Well, they don't have three kids to care for."  Then I turn the corner and see that the woman has 6 or 7 kids, each one also perfectly groomed and looking ready for a cover shoot.

Why does it seem everyone's got it together but me?

The pictures below are of the gingerbread house my kids decorated yesterday.  Yes, yesterday...as in January 17.  The kit has been sitting on my kitchen table since probably December 1.  Since that time it's been surrounded by bags of groceries, bags of decorations, boxes of gifts, bags of candy, and just plain mess!

Each day before December 25, it was in my head to get the kids started with the house or to make some space for them, or to turn on some Christmas music, put on matching Santa sweaters, hang some holly, and then decorate the house.  Didn't happen.  The box sat there among the mess and taunted me each day.  Then New Year's Eve came, then a couple of family birthdays, then school started back.  It seems there is no break in the stream of life to have our perfect Pinterest family moment decorating the gingerbread house.

Then yesterday the kids asked if they could decorate it.  No holly, no sweaters, no carols.  Just a couple of teenagers decorating the gingerbread house on the corner of the kitchen table.  And it's awesome!!!  My boy and girl divided the house in half and each half is so different.  My son's half is so traditional, very "gingerbread house-y".  My daughter's side is made to represent different musicals (Annie's in there, so is the Sound of Music, and also Les Mis).  Two totally different decorations from two of my totally different kids.

Here's what I learned, I don't have it all together and I don't care.  Whether or not the kids had the gingerbread house on Christmas day, they still had it.  Time slips by so quickly, we can't spend time beating ourselves up over not having everything together all the time.  Give yourself a break, and give others a break, too.  Spend time getting together the things that are most important!