It’s shocking but painfully true, and clearly I have been on Pinterest more than I should be. But have you noticed it? Women all over America are already pinning adorable ideas for their holiday gift giving onto their pinterest walls, they’re getting ideas for teacher’s gifts. They are deciding how to decorate their entry hall tables for the big holidays to come.
I have no doubt that some of you love this sort of thing, so please know right now that I am not talking to you.It’s not even an issue of being a mom who works in an office or a mom who works at home. It’s about DO YOU LIKE IT? If you do, please carry on. And invite me over for dinner. Because I love looking at it and am truly in awe of your talents in this area which I do not possess.
But I hate doing it. And I hate feeling stressed that I should be doing it. And that somehow my kids are missing out and won’t have magical childhoods because I’m not doing it. So I’m writing a manifesto for myself as we begin a new school year (which we all know is really the start of the holidays, don’t pretend differently, please;).
1. I will not look at other women’s Pinterest pages and feel guilty because I am not them. I do not want to make little snow man holders for silverwear and I do not want to make a wreath out of mints, and I would prefer to not use a glue gun ever.
2. I will let go of the guilt I feel every time I drive through our nieghborhood and see a lovingly decorated front porch (complete with an awesome, not scary looking scarecrow and real hay). I have many friends who take great joy in this and I love looking at it. But I will not let it be a silent condemnation of my own abilities as a wife and mom.
3. I will pray for my children’s teachers and I will make sure I get emails to them letting them know I’m doing this. And I will buy them gift cards for Target or Office Depot. These gift cards will be housed in a normal thank you note and I will not stress that I didn’t creatively package them with raffia. Because I don’t own any raffia.
4. We decorate for 2 major holidays around here: people’s birthdays and Christmas. For Christmas we will do a wreath on the door, some lights on our house (if Scott gets around to it) and a tree in our family room. And I will bake 2 kinds of cookies. End scene.
5. If I get to the end of every work week with my children still alive and out of jail, my husband happy and us all still loving each other, and with my sanity in tact, I will pat myself on the back and thank God for the ability to care for my family well.
This may not resonate with anybody but I needed to get it down in writing so I can come back and look at it. God made me the way I am for a reason. I spend way too much energy thinking my family would be better off if I was a mom who embraced creating beautiful holiday spaces but I’m just not. So I’m letting it go. Because it’s just not me and that’s OK. If you’re shaking your head while reading this and feeling sorry for my kids, I don’t know what to tell you. I think (no I know) that God made me the way I am for a reason. And if you’re into that kind of thing, the beautiful creation of a dinner table that makes people walk in and instantly feel loved, I am SO grateful for your gifts!! I grew up in a home like that and it brought me a lot of joy as a kid! But we all have to face the reality of where God wants us to spend our time and our energies and for now, and maybe just for this season, I need to choose carefully.
And if you’re that woman who’s doing all that I mentioned and not loving it? If you do it because you feel like you have to? Please stop. Please find where God wants your energies to go. And if you love it and just can’t find the time you need to make it happen? Take a hard look at where you are spending your time and see if you can negotiate some more space for what brings you joy! It’s a worthy pursuit for all of us.
Jen (ironic that there’s a pin-it button here, yes?) 
Yep, this is me. I used to feel bad for my kids because the girls loved to do crafts & a coloring book and crayons was the extent of my creativity at home. Maybe a pack of construction paper and some scissors if I was feeling super wild. Good thing they had playschool and Sunday School. :p
I bought a wreath for the door for Christmas one year. It died and turned brown in the garage before it got hung.
Amen! I do not have a creative bone in my body! I am a great copier, but not good with imagination! my daughter rolls her eyes at my inability to “do good hair”!
Suzanne Dutton
I let go of my Pinterest envy a long time ago. I have a ton of boards and pins – but I probably get around to making about 1% of what I pin. My kids have plenty of healthy food choices in the house, clean clothes to wear and a mom who is home in the evenings to play and read to them. We make crafts sometimes. Once year at Thanksgiving, we traced our hands to make turekys. For some reason my daughter called them chickens and now we make “chickens” for every season/holiday. I have pictures of “chickens” in bikinis and in scarves. That is my vast crafting experience. But they are loved and I am not stressed about making a wreath out of their baby teeth and tulle as a gift from the tooth fairly. Speaking of, the tooth fairy FORGOT to even visit last night even though there was a tooth under the pillow! maybe I am lacking as a parent…
I needed this today with school ramping up….. that time of year when I feel this guilt the most. I love decorating for Christmas (okay maybe I am obsessed with nativity scenes JUST a little…..), but the rest of it- I am not good with at all. I love recipes but cooking not so much… well, you get the point.
Thanks for pointing out (again!)that God made each of us who we are for a reason! And that it is okay, no it is more than okay to be that person!