The Hostess With the Not-So-Mostest

When we were growing up, it seemed that my parents were always having company over. It was never a formal affair, it was always an open invitation for anyone and everyone to just stop by. It didn't seem to matter to anyone that there were kids running everywhere, or the floor hadn't been perfectly swept or the garden wasn't always perfectly weeded - it was just a nice place to be with friends.

So often as an adult, I seem to get caught up with having the "perfect house". Heidi actually posted about that a while back and I thought I'd just touch on that again (read that post here).

I focus too much on not having the nicest furniture, or the paint on my walls or the nicest accessories when really, I should be focusing on making my house a warm and comfortable place to be. If you have friends over, are you constantly fussing and trying to make things perfect, or are you focusing on making good memories? Are you worried about what they'll think about your not-so-new furniture or that you forgot to pick up the crumbs off the floor from supper-time? I don't really notice those things when I get invited out to a party, so I'm not too sure why I think that people care about those things at my house. It's not really the point of going out and being with friends!

So in the spirit of being a good hostess, yesterday we had friends over for a beginning-of-summer bonfire. It didn't seem to matter to anyone that you can't go out the back door to a beautiful new deck or that there might have been some Cheerios on the floor that were dropped from my daughter's snack time, or that I forgot to pick up the mounds of grass that were left over from mowing the lawn. We focused instead on the food and the company. The boys played an impromptu game of soccer in the yard and the girls sat around the fire and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. Everyone seemed to like it because they stayed till midnight!

So because I can't be the only one who worries too much about what their house looks like, why don't you try inviting people over to your house, no matter what the state it's in? Just focus on enjoying your friends instead of making everything perfect. Make some good memories!