Building A Dream

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computer genius at work, master craftsman at home

I used to dream of all sorts of fantastical things.

When I was young I dreamed of becoming a prima ballerina and then, when I discovered that I did not have the knack for dance, my dream changed to a future as a nurse.

That dream was shattered at the age of six when I hit my brother on the back of a head with a large rock at Waterfront Park (I thought it would make it into the Mississippi River with a brilliant SPLASH! but my strength deceived me) and the sight of his blood caused me to faint, leaving him to his own 5-year-old devices to seek medical attention. Nursing was definitely not in my future.

I wanted to become many things - an astronaut (afraid of heights), a Mouseketeer (too shy), an author (no patience), an illustrator (no talent), a rollerskater (it was my greatest disappointment to learn that this was not a true profession)... the list goes on forever.

I mention all of this because recently I had a blink of a dream that my home could appear in a magazine after reading these words on a blog that I follow:

Would you like your house featured in a magazine? I would. Lucky for both of us, I get to be in this magazine too. It should be fun.

My house is awesome! was my immediate thought. My husband is a master with woodwork and details! Plus, my eldest daughter ElemenoB is bordering on obsession with reading home decorating magazines, so the thought that our home could gain ultra cool status in her eyes was what made me even consider clicking on the link with instructions on how to get your house in the running. Then I started to read the description of the kind of house that they are looking for...

Clean (well, most of the time), fresh (sure, unless a diaper is in need of changing), light-filled (we have lights!) modern (built in 1996, does that work?) sensibility (?) with interesting collections (do Lego Star Wars figures count? Or children?) and a description of some of your HOLIDAY traditions.

I was still feeling semi-hopeful at this point. Until I saw that they also wanted 5 pictures of the inside of our home and their suggestions for areas and rooms to photograph do not exist here. (mantel, staircase, kitchen table with large window behind, etc.)

Isn't it funny how things can be awesome until you start to look at them from someone else's perspective? Well, I decided to quickly dismiss the thoughts that my home was inadequate or unamazing. Because you know what?

For us, our house is perfect. In fact, it is not merely a house, but a home. It is perfectly lived-in and comfortable. The woodwork in our front room and girls' bedroom is one-of-a-kind, lovingly created by my husband's talented hands. Much of the furniture throughout our home is also his workmanship. Every room is simply decorated and filled with evidence of what exists here - a family.

I have no doubt that ElemenoB's future home will be magazine worthy. She has the eye for decorating and color that I was not blessed with. As for our home? I'll be perfectly content with photographs in our memory books.

For now, I have other dreams to pursue. More realistic dreams, like getting my 3-year-old potty trained.

Now THAT would be a dream come true.