Friday, February 20, 2009

It's Not You, It's Me.

Dear House,

I love you oh so dearly. You hold such a special place in my heart. You are the first house the Mr. and I bought. My baby was born here. My other babies have grown and learned so much in you. You have kept us warm in the winter and cool in the summer. You barely winced when upon moving in, we painted one of your walls green. The artwork my children have done on your walls have not phased you one bit. In your walls, we have had parties, and times filled with laughter and tears.

Your beautiful wooden floors and newly carpeted rooms are so inviting. The sunshine that comes streaming through your new windows (you're welcome) warm my children and I daily.

Your yard is becoming more and more beautiful. Our (really meaning the Mr.'s) blood, sweat and tears can be found in your soil. You gave us a beautiful garden last summer. You breathed a sigh of relief when we thinned out your too tightly packed trees. Your grass is flourishing under our loving care. And, while it is something to be proud of, would you please put a fence up? Seriously, you don't need to flaunt to the whole neighborhood. A little privacy is something to be cherished.

So, you see, I love you. But you know that this is a temporary arrangement. We have said from day one that we would live inside of you for 5-7 years. You see, as wonderful as you are, you also have some flaws. These are flaws that I can not look past. Your two car deep garage is a crock. It is a way to get the 2 car garage in the listing, but really? Who is going to park one car in back of the other in the garage? Please.

Also, the fact that I can't get to the backyard from the house, this is really disturbing. Especially when there is no fence (see my comment above please) and my children want to play out there. So, they are forced to play in the front yard where I can see them, and so can the cars that go racing by.

While we're talking about the front yard, what is a nice little house like you doing surrounded by a dilapidated trailer on one side and a duplex on the other? You know that the houses on the block laugh at you don't you? You really should keep better company.

The poor construction of you means that there is no ventilation inside. No exhaust fan in the bathroom or kitchen. We will be remedying this very soon. But it would have been nice had we noticed it before we bought you.

So, on the first anniversary of our owning you, please understand it is not that I don't love you. But, I want more. I want to be able to walk in my bedroom without slamming into a piece of furniture or a wall. I would also like to stop cramming my family of 5 into 2 bedrooms because there isn't a suitable bedroom for children in the basement. And, really who am I kidding? Like I would banish my 2 and 4 year old to the basement.

So, don't take offense when I look online for a new house. I want more than you can give. So, it's not you, it's me. Or maybe it is you.

If you haven't yet, head on over here and vote for me!

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Love this! We have been in our townhouse for almost 11 years now. When we moved in, we had a one year old baby and the house was a palace. Now, four kids later, we are bursting at the seams, and I see more of the flaws than the beauties. I need to remember more often the feeling of awe and gratitude that I felt that first year.

Sunnymama said...

Great post. Love your writing. Good luck on winning for the BlogHer Conference!

Mama bee said...

This post made me wish for a house of our own someday. We've been in this rental for three years now(!) and while it feels like home, we are cramped. We'll probably stay here for the duration of our time in Logan, but will definitely need something bigger next time. And when we finally do OWN a house, I will paint to my heart's content. No more rental-white for me! (someday)

CC said...

We thought we'd be in this home for 5 years. We even had a 5 year arm on the mortgage. Um. Yeah. We're in year 7 now and switched out mortgage to a fixed one. It's just too expensive to move!