Things I Don't Do

I spend an awful lot of time on this blog writing about things I do in my home with my family. It occurred to me the other day that some people might get the impression that we do an awful lot. I think though that a stranger spending time in my house might be more struck by the things we don't do than with all our activities.

So...in the interest of honesty and openness, I decided to make a list of some of the surprising activities that don't go on in our home. Some of them are things I'm heartily ashamed of and hope to do better as time goes on, but there are other things in the list that I am content with. Their absence reflects our family values and I'm willing to risk criticism from others for the sake of the time, focus, and energy it buys me. There are also some items that lie somewhere in the middle

I've decided not to tell you which are which. You might be able to guess my feelings on a few, but something inside me makes me feel it is better not to tell. I think partly because it will give me the courage to be more open, but also because the purpose of this post is not to make you feel judged for what you decide is or is not important for your family. I would rather this post serve as a reminder that you don't HAVE to do everything the magazines and parenting books recommend. Also, I think it's nice to hear, just every once in a while, another voice admit they don't have it all together.

Some of the Things We Don't Do at our House:

1. Cook every night. We eat a lot of leftovers.

2. Spend time on holiday traditions that are not personally meaningful to us. It shocks a lot of people that we don't even put up a Christmas tree or set out Easter baskets.

3. Put away laundry right away. It often sits until it is a thoroughly wrinkled, schmushed blob.

4. Baby sign language.

5. Keep a well manicured lawn. In fact right now, because we are experiencing a drought our grass is crispy brown.

6. Bathe my children every day.

7. Keep up with the news.

8. Do many child enrichment activities outside the home. (Baby swim lessons, Kindermusic, library story times, etc)

9. Take great pains to avoid exposure to germs. We don't use a grocery cart seat cover, and I generally only disinfect very dirty things.

10. Keep up with all the latest child health studies.

11. Bake from scratch very frequently- Despite having a great bread machine and a mother who has taught me time and time again her secrets for wonderful pie crusts.

12. Sweep under my toddler's high chair after every meal - despite her less-than-neat habits.

13. Fold my children's dresser clothes. seriously. I hang up all of their dresses in the closet, but everything else ends up in the drawers exactly how I throw them.

14. Take my children to the doctor unless they are due for a check-up or are very, very sick.

Well, those are the things that come to mind...I know there are more. :-)

This post is part of Works for Me Wednesday.

If you have the inclination, I think I would be really interested to hear some of the things you don't do in your home (whether deliberately or not). Please share them in the comments section to give us all comfort and food for thought!