Last year after my daughter’s third birthday party my grandmother told me, “You have a real kid’s house. You can tell they have a lot of fun here.”

I know she meant this as a compliment so that’s how I took it. She meant that kids are welcomed here, that we are a happy house, that one doesn’t have to worry if something breaks. My grandmother says what she wants and has forever.  Usually there is a grain of truth somewhere in her words. I figure I must be doing something right if my kids are happy, right? Right?

But honestly, the comment has stuck with me. I have a kid’s house, so does that mean that it’s not for adults? Has it been taken over that much that it’s not also for “big people”? Sure I have artwork in every crevice and art materials on the dinner table, where else would I put them?  I also still do have wine glasses and silver serving trays, they just are not out on display.
It’s just as prevalent at Christmas time. When I peruse Facebook I see many of my friends (or friends of friends depending on how deep in FB world I went in order to avoid grading) I see many moms who have managed to make their homes Martha Stewart beautiful.  I used to do that.  I swear. I love Christmas and I have a lot of decorations. Before kids I took a lot of pride in holiday decorating. The living room was transformed into the warm, stockings-on-the-mantle, chestnuts roasting, nutcracker playing scene you see in the movies (minus unlimited funds and cathedral ceilings). Had I known about Pinterest five years ago, I probably would’ve stopped going to work and crafted and decorated all day.

Today, I focus on a different style. The toddler style. My two and three year old help me decorate and what used to be kind of vintage chic is now eclectic and colorful. The tree looks different every day because the ornaments are always falling, being taken down or worse, breaking. The kids play around and under the tree, and add their own personal touches to the surrounding decor (daily). The music boxes and snowglobes I once displayed on side tables and chests are now elevated to (my) eye level in order to protect them for future years.  There are dinosaurs on the coffee table and under the tree.  My daughter put all the candy canes in one concentrated area on the tree.  It’s very Christmas-y here, it’s just not all that rustic, chic, orderly or even pretty.

Our new Christmas style doesn’t end indoors.  Have you ever heard of multi-color icicle lights? Right, me neither.  But my husband did and bought enough to line the house and our dormers. He also made the chimney red so Santa could find it. It took an entire day, but its his proudest work yet.

So my Grandma is right. We do have a kid’s house. In fact, I’m pretty certain that anyone within a half-mile radius could pinpoint our house as a kid house (thanks Clark Griswold, I mean hubby). Since I feel helpless to control it I think I am going to try to enjoy the colorful tree with its hanging beads and ornaments. I assume later on in life I’ll have more time to make my house more “adult-beautiful”.

Happy Holidays to all our readers.  Thanks for the support as I began writing for ctworkingmoms a few months ago.  I can’t wait to see what 2017 brings.