The Mindful Homeschool

Things are a-changing around here.  We have been looking at moving to another house and neighborhood.  The time is right to move.  Interest rates are low and the houses that were not affordable to us years ago have come down considerably in price.  So … it is a no-brainer, right?  That, combined with the fact that the neighborhood scene has gone sour for us makes this a great time for us to move.  And we really could use more space, indoors and outdoors. 

But here is the dilemna: getting our house ready for sale.  We had a realtor (and her assistant!) visit our home last week.  She came to meet us and talk about our options and also give us tips on what to do before we list our house.   Oh my!  It was mortifying.  She looked in all our rooms and closets and tried, I think, to offer us advice in a gentle way.  Ummm.  It was hard.  I needed a few hours afterward to unwind.  She said that I had the patience of a saint when she saw the kid’s bedroom.  I guess it looked, uh, not so great.  She told us that people nowadays don’t look at houses and see the potential.  They want to move into a house that looks like something out of the Pottery Barn.  Okay….

So … we were told to replace our old kitchen appliances (easy), replace our light fixtures (okay), re-carpet, replace our tub, replace our old windows, paint, and DECLUTTER.  That was the embarassing part.  I don’t know when was the last time someone looked at our entire house, every room and closet.  Maybe when we moved in 12 years ago?  It was MORTIFYING!!!  When we have people over to visit we use the unused rooms as a way to store all of the extra clutter.  We could not even hide our clutter in the closets because she looked in them.  Well, not all of them.  But my dear husband offered to show her our walk-in bedroom closet.  Ugggh.

It was embarrassing for me to have two women I don’t know come into my house, my bedroom even, and look at the decorating (or lack thereof) and our piles of books and papers.  Double ugggh.  Well, we did make it through the event and I am wiser because of it.  And humbled.  It does feel good to clear out our house and I am looking forward to making our home even more lovely.  I just wish that current buyers understood all the charm that goes into a house complete with a back yard that looks like something out of Mrs. Piggle Wiggle.   Don’t your kids dig holes in your backyards?

I am not sure where this will lead us and maybe we will end up staying here.  There are many reasons to stay put.  But if we can find a house that would make for a better home, sayonara baby!