What makes a house a home

    As I close out this Memorial Day Weekend and the realizations that tomorrow reality swings backs in, I find myself a little sad that the weekend could not last just a little longer. This weekend was not a traditional laid back weekend for us, there was no barbeque or swimming in the swimming pool with the kids, we did however enjoy several movies together as a family, did some work around the house, and helped out a few people we love.

    Over the next week life once again will get hectic around our home. My husband will be working late while I spend my days taking care of phone calls that need to be made, going to appointments for the kids, and along with the ever present house cleaning that needs to be done. At the end of each day though each of us will come home to our home. We will sit in our spots that are comfortable as we watch, we will gather around our table to eat dinner together, and we will go to bed at night in a home that we love.

    Recently I have been thinking about our house, the very thing that we call home. See there is a fine difference between a house and a home. A house is a place that provides shelter or it can be a thing of beauty, an architectural wonder but it doesn't mean it is a home. So what makes a house a home?

    A home is a place where mom has put the two youngest to bed and although she has told the oldest to get in bed, she can still hear him playing. A home is where dad has gone around an made sure the lights are out and the home is secured. A home is a place where it is not always clean and at the end of the day mom is walking through picking up glasses and taking them to the kitchen thinking she will get to them in the morning. Home is where a family can laugh and cry and fight but know this is the place where they belong….they belong in not just any house but the home they have built around them.

    Our home is not a perfect house. It has cracks in the wall and the foundation and the walls desperately need new coats of paint. I have one toilet that could be classified as a rocker and another one that…well that one just needs to ripped out and replaced along with the rocker but then both bathrooms could do with a makeover. Our back door has issues with the way it leans causing it to be quite difficult to shut but the front screen door is no better, as it has been bent and has no handle on the outside (we fixed it once but the handle fell off again, I am holding out for a new door). I could go on and on but the list would become boring…..

    It is not just the imperfections of the house that gives it character and makes it our home, it is also the added personal touches from the way the living room is arranged to the laundry piled on the couch. When you have three children there is always something that needs to be cleaned! There is a load of dishes waiting to be put in the dishwasher right now just like there are toys waiting to be put away in the kids rooms (something I will need to get onto the about tomorrow).

    It is the imperfections and the chores that are waiting that makes this house a home. Our home is lived in and that is how it should be. As I walk through my home I feel that I belong here and I see the potential of what could make this house a better home. I do not want to lose that feeling and while someday we may move, hopefully not soon, I hope that whatever house we eventually move to will have the same qualities that makes this house a home.

    Hope you have a wonderful day! I have a dentist appointment with my youngest son….and no I am not looking forward to but you know what, we will have our home to come home to….

    ~Natalie