Moving Along

Four years ago my husband, kids, and I left Florida for the suburbs. But it took four years of living here to scope out the perfect neighborhood.

The moment I drove up the driveway of this cozy home, I was charmed. This house is nine years old and the families that owned this house before us had a dog, a cat, raised children here and gave it lots of love. But, it desperately needed some attention, my husband and I knew it was a diamond in the rough and a house we could be happy in for the next chapter of our life.  We made an offer the same day we walked through and thus embarked on plans to remodel.

Three weeks later, we started the renovation and last week we moved out of the rental and into the house.  The contractor probably could have used another three to four weeks before I brought my three kids and all of our belongings into the house.  On moving day we only had one fully functional bathroom, about 75% of the light fixtures installed, and several other random projects still to be completed.  However, the lease was up at the rental and we decided to move, finished or not, rather than pay for another months rent.  

Every time someone asks me how I like the new house, I just smile and have to admit that I do love it, although I can’t wait to get rid of the smell of fresh paint! I don't complain about the dust or the unpacked boxes that I can’t seem to make time for. And I don't mention the three to four workmen I spend my days with from 8:30am to 5pm.    

You see, having several people who come in and out of my house every day has it's benefits.  Seriously. Not knowing who is going to show up at what time of day forces me to get up early in the morning before my children wake up and take a shower.  Before I leave to drop off the kids at school I do a sweep of the house and make sure all the randomly strewn pajama tops, legos, stuffed animals and books are picked up and out of the way.  I'm not usually bothered by a little dust, but we live in a construction site and I find myself picking up the vacuum much more often than usual.  My house has not been this clean and organized in a long time.

But the biggest benefit of having a houseful of plumbers and electricians has been quite unexpected. I've had to find other ways to deal with the sibling smack-down that seems to always happen when we're late for school and no one has combed their hair yet or they can't find their homework.  

Honestly, it's been a wake up call for me.  I can solve problems without yelling and guess what?  When I am not so quick to anger, the tantrums don't last as long and arguments actually get resolved faster. While surrounded by power drills, hammers and chaos all day my family has become calmer.  Hopefully we can maintain the peace after all the knobs have been put on the cabinets and all the rooms are finally put together.