Just Because Your Mother is Coming...

It's that time of year again. It's getting colder, the holiday shopping is in full swing, your pants are all too tight from the constant treats, and oh, yeah...your mother is coming to visit!

Maybe its not your mother. Maybe its your friends or siblings, perhaps you are hosting a Christmas party, or possibly, your (gasp) in-laws are coming. For me, this is the time of year when I walk around the house with a critical eye and start thinking about buying shiny new stuff to replace the stuff that was perfectly good for the past eleven months.

Case in point: when my parents visit, they sleep in my bed (because my "guest bed" is an aerobed on the floor and my mom's knees don't handle that well). This week I bought a memory foam mattress topper (which is AWESOME!) that I had been planning to buy but specifically thought it would be nice for when my folks arrive. Fine. Next I started thinking that I should buy some new fitted sheets with a thicker pocket to hold the mattress topper better. Then I got to thinking that the guest bed duvet really needs replacing. And so on.  As if my check card really needs more use at this time of year.

When I wrote about having a deadline party, I told you that having house guests really compels me to buckle down and get things done around the house. I do tend to be more productive with a deadline, but  I can easily get carried away with what needs to be done to make the house "presentable." I have been sleeping on the same sheets for months now, and they have been just fine all along. Knowing that visitors are coming does not change anything.

Bottom line is that our mothers love us, ratty sheets and all. Our party guests are much more concerned with the company, food, and beverages than with the price point of our sofas.  I can't give you much advice about in-laws, except to say that your very complex relationship will probably not be affected by whether you purchase new dishes or not.

So this year I am resolving to keep the Monsters in my brain from getting out of hand by not buying anything for the house that I was not already planning to get.

I read a passage by Erma Bombeck a long time ago, in which she reflected at the end of her life on what she would have done differently. She wrote, "I would have eaten popcorn in the 'good' living room and worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace." (for the whole passage click here: http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/11882.Erma_Bombeck) When I am looking around my house thinking that my dining room chairs are not that nice and my living room rug needs to be replaced, I try to remember that quote. At the end of the day your stuff doesn't make a nice holiday memory- you do that with yourself and the people you love. Or are related to anyway.

So goodbye for now and don't forget to KISS (keep it simple stupid)!