06/14/2007

Aesthetic beauty is officially a thing of the past. This rule applies in most realms of my life. First and foremost, my general appearance has gone significantly downhill since the birth of our son Nathan. In fact, after Nathan was born, Nick gifted me with some brand new makeup...I haven't used it up yet. =) I don't think I've ironed since Nathan was born either. I figure dressed and wrinkly is acceptable. Aren't wrinkled clothes kind of the 'in' thing anyway? Today I haven't combed my hair, I am wearing one of Nick's tees and some boxer shorts, and am thus a sight for sore eyes. Nathan doesn't seem to mind, and since he is my primary companion, I'm allowing myself freedom from the guilt that might normally accompany this unsightliness.

Also, here on the homestead we've traded beauty for practicality. The other day I officially ruled in favor of removing the coffee table from our living room. The busy toddler just needs more roaming space, and that coffee table was a great inconvenience to our play. I don't want to throw it out...I just want to store it away. My kitchen counter is lined with jars that are reserved for foods that Nathan regularly consumes. Sure, the counter would be a nice place to show off cute family photos or expensive jars of oil with peppers inside, but my counter features fruit snacks, oatmeal, fruit loops, and dum-dum suckers. Welcome to parenthood.

I've given up on keeping live flowers. I don't have time to water them, and even if I did, Nathan enjoys picking the flowers off bushes anyways.

The office has become a stash-zone for all the paperwork that I don't have the time to organize or file away properly. I tell myself that one day Nathan will engross himself in reading a chapter book and I'll catch up on my filing. For now, however, the desk is tucked away where nobody sees it and is literally covered with items that I probably don't even recall ever getting.

Our wine rack hasn't held wine for ages. Nathan has discovered that the slots where the wine bottles should go make excellent storage for toys of all sorts. "Truck go?" he asks me. We look around forever. I'm literally stumped. I have no idea where the truck might have gone. Laughing, Nathan goes racing over to the wine cabinet and wheels his truck out from its little garage.

Centerpieces on the kitchen table are a thing of the past. Nathan can now access the table top via kitchen chair and will proceed to disassemble whatever items may be adorning our dining set. I try to convince myself that in reality nothing looks more pristine than an empty table. There is, after all, beauty in simplicity.

Nathan is playing quietly on the floor. This almost never happens. I should be using this time to attack some of that filing I referred to earlier, but alas, I'm not feeling called. So instead I opt to report to all of you what life is like in our little house...with our little boy. Even now as I reflect on the changes that have been made in adapting to Nathan's presence I realize this one thing: it has never once not been worth it all.