The Gratitude Tour

Welcome to the September 2014 Carnival of Natural Parenting: Home Tour

This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama. This month our participants have opened up their doors and given us a photo-rich glimpse into how they arrange their living spaces.

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Ever since reading Glennon’s post I’ve been walking around my home with a new perspective. I see things differently. I appreciate more. I bubble with thanks.

Yes, bubble. Because, you guys, just look … 

This is what I wake up to every morning. A big, cozy bed with clean(ish) sheets, a warm blanket and my kids tucked next to me. My pillowcases don’t match, but I like it that way. 

I stumble down stairs each morning and have my choice of eggs, yogurt, cereal, coffee, fruit, toast … you name it, it seems to be tucked in this enormous fridge somewhere. We have food at our fingertips and have NEVER been hungry. Never. That is something I am thankful for. 

And this space? We live here. We make memories here. The cabinets aren’t the color I’d pick and it’s hard for more than one person to effectively move about, but hey – all the better for bumping and hugging mid-kitchen collision, right? 

Back upstairs we’ve got a little dose of luxury – my bath tub. My quiet place. I’ll confess that I’ve complained about it not having jets. You can virtually slap me now. 

Right now Jemma has her own room. We’ve gotten it all set up for her and she truly loves it. Well, except for that last picture frame that still has the Costco people in it. My grandma grew up with 6 siblings and I bet she never even considered the possibility of having her own room. Again, kinda crazy that we live in a house with enough space for a 3 year old to have her own square footage.

No haulin’ water from the creek to clean these clothes! Nope – I have a WHOLE ROOM dedicated to the washing and drying of clothes where I push a button here and there and, just like that, clean clothes. It even has special shelves (thanks husband!) to hold all the clothes I so lovingly fold. 

Oh the clothes. People, this is what’s left AFTER I cleaned out things I didn’t need. Seeing it all makes me ready for another purge. One person doesn’t need 14 cardigans. She just doesn’t. 

There you have it. My gratitude tour. Everything I don’t NEED, but am extremely BLESSED to have. It can become so overwhelming, living in the midst of Pinterest, comparing to friend’s homes or those we see on TV and watching our Facebook newsfeed scroll by with snaps of perfection. Every time we feel that twinge of want and desire; discontentment. It’s not good. It’s not what I want my natural instinct to be.

And so, by looking at things through fresh eyes I’m all of a sudden in awe of all my blessings. All the food, all the clothes, all the resources at my fingertips. I’m thankful more (SO. MUCH. MORE.) and feel armed to share my blessings with others. This gratitude tour was good for my soul. Just what I needed to spur some Fall cleaning, care for the things I have and truly appreciate everything around me.

Hop over to the That Mama Gretchen Facebook page and share a photo in the comments of today’s post about this blog entry. I want to see what seemingly normal part of your house makes you most thankful!

For other peeks at my home, take a peek at these posts and come back in early October for a full debut of Jemma’s room which will include a GREAT giveaway from Blinds.com!

• Homeschool Room Reveal
• Welcome To Our Living Room
• Kid’s Shoe Storage
• The First Downstairs Tour

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Visit Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama to find out how you can participate in the next Carnival of Natural Parenting!

Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:

(This list will be updated by afternoon September 9 with all the carnival links.)

• Being Barlow Home Tour — Follow along as Jessica at Being Barlow gives you the tour of her family’s home.
• A Tour Of My Hybrid Rasta Kitchen — Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama takes you on a tour of her kitchen complete with a Kombucha Corner, a large turtle, her tea stash, and of course, all her must-have kitchen gadgets. Check out Hybrid Rasta Mama’s most favorite space!
• Dreaming of a Sisters Room — Bianca, The Pierogie Mama, dreams, schemes and pins ideas for when her younger daughter is ready to move out of the family bed and share a room with her older sister.
• Building a life — Constructing a dream — Survivor at Surviving Mexico-Adventures and Disasters shows you a glimpse inside the home her family built and talks about adaptions they made in constructing their lives in Mexico.
• Why I’m Sleeping in the Dining Room — Becca at The Earthling’s Handbook welcomed a new baby but didn’t have a spare bedroom. She explains how her family rearranged the house to create Lydia’s nursing nest and changing room in spaces they already had.
• The Gratitude Tour — Inspired by Momastry’s recent “home tour,” That Mama Gretchen is highlighting imperfect snapshots of things she’s thankful for around her home. Don’t plan to pin anything!
• Our Home in the Forest — Tara from Up the Dempster gives you a peek into life lived off-grid in Canada’s Yukon Territory.
• natural bedding for kids — Emma at Your Fonder Heart shows you how her family of 3 (soon to be 4) manages to keep their two cotton & wool beds clean and dry (plus a little on the end of cosleeping — for now).
• I love our home — ANonyMous at Radical Ramblings explains how lucky she feels to have the home she does, and why she strives so hard to keep it tidy.
• Not-So-Extreme Makeover: Sunshine and Rainbows Edition — Dionna at Code Name: Mama was tired of her dark, outdated house, so she brightened it up and added some color.
• Our little outdoor space — Tat at Mum in search invites you to visit her balcony, where her children make friends with wildlife.
• Our Funky, Bright, Eclectic, Montessori Home — Rachel at Bread and Roses shows you her family’s newly renovated home and how it’s set up with Montessori principles in mind for her 15-month-old to have independence.
• Beach cottage in progress — Ever tried to turn a 1980s condo into a 1920s beach bungalow? Lauren at Hobo Mama is giving it a try!
• Conjuring home: intention in renovation — Jessica at Crunchy-Chewy Mama explains why she and her husband took on a huge renovation with two little kids and shares the downsides and the ups, too.
• Learning At Home — Kerry at City Kids Homeschooling helps us to re-imagine the ordinary spaces of our homes to ignite natural learning.
• My Dining Room Table — Kellie at Our Mindful Life loves her dining room table — and everything surrounding it!
• Sight words and life lessons — The room that seemed to fit the least in Laura from Pug in the Kitchen‘s life is now host to her family’s homeschool adventures and a room they couldn’t imagine life without!
• A Tour of Our Church — Garry at Postilius invites you virtually visit him in the 19th-century, one-room church where he lives with his spouse and two kids.
• Preparing a Montessori Baby-Toddler Space at Home — Deb Chitwood at Living Montessori Now shares the Montessori baby-toddler space she’s created in the main living area of her home along with a variety of resources for creating a Montessori-friendly home.
• The Old Bailey House — Come peek through the window of The Old Bailey House where Erica at ChildOrganics resides with her little ones.
• My New House Not-Monday: The Stairs — Claire at The Adventures of Lactating Girl shows you her new laminate stairs in her not-so-new-anymore house.
• To Minimalist and Back Again — Jorje of Momma Jorje shares how she went to the extreme as a minimalist and bounced right back. Read how she finds it difficult to maintain the minimalist lifestyle when upsizing living space.
• Our Life As Modern-Day Nomads — This family of five lives in 194 square feet of space — with the whole of North America as a back yard. Paige of Our Road Less Traveled guest posts at Natural Parents Network.