Author: nik
Posted: 2007-12-02 22:39:54
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I have a confession to make. My house and I have hit a bit of a rough patch in our relationship. For the sake of privacy, I will refer to said house as "starter home".
"Starter home" and I have been together for almost 5 years now. It started as many relationships do — with love at first sight. My hubby and I signed the contract and thought we were on our way to “happily ever after.”
But 5 years (and two kids!) later, the flames of passion for my humble home have been quenched by the wet blanket of reality. Those three bedrooms, which seemed so vast when we only had one child, now seem tiny and inadequate! The huge kitchen that used to spell “p-o-s-s-i-b-i-l-i-t-i-e-s” now spells “h-a-s-s-l-e.” My husband’s office disappeared with the birth of our daughter, the half bathroom is inadequate and there isn’t enough space. Things seemed so perfect when my house and I were in the “honeymoon” stage, but that has faded away, and I am left to quibble with too-small rooms, ugly carpet and dinged up moldings.
Now I loathe admitting it, but … I started to look around. I let my eyes wander, and my passions began to burn for another home. It all started with the “For Sale” sign in the front yard — could it be true? And then the internet search — is THAT all it cost? Still out of our price range, but not as far out as I had thought! All the sudden my mind was consumed with thinking about how great life would be if I was with this other house! In much the same way a 14-year-old would go out of her way to pass her crush in the school hallway, I started going out of my way to drive by the house. I looked at the online listing several times a day.
Now, I won’t say that the house wasn’t beautiful, because it was. With the fireplaces, crown moldings,french doors, five bedrooms and sun room beckoning to me, I was definitely at risk of being swept off my feet! But I could see the imperfections, too. At least two of the rooms had ugly wallpaper. I hated the kitchen cabinets. The garage was too narrow to fit my van. The new addition seemed suspect. All at once, I realized that if we begged and borrowed, scrimped and saved, and ate nothing but generic macaroni & cheese for the next several years just to pay for this house, in 5 years, I’d end up fantasizing about another house somewhere else, that had better looking kitchen cabinets and a three-car garage!
After looking at the house one last time, I went home and apologized to "starter home". I begged it to take me back. “Don’t worry,” it seemed to say. “I’m committed to our 30 year mortgage. I’ve been here since 1989, and I’m not going anywhere. Now, why don’t you sweep my kitchen floor and we’ll let bygones be bygones.”
With a new determination to strengthen the relationship with my home, I hung up the realtor’s printout of the “other house” in my kitchen as a reminder to myself to be thankful for what I have. |
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