Glimpses At the Classics - Little Women (also a glimpse into our home this week)

Home.
Because I spend so much time in my home, the sights and smells greatly affect my mood. A few years ago, when housekeeping was exactly like playing dollhouse, I could greatly identify with this passage from Little Women ...

"Like most other young matrons, Meg began her married life with the determination to be a model housekeeper. John should find home a paradise, he should always see a smiling face, should fare sumptuously every day, and never know the loss of a button. She brought so much love, energy, and cheerfulness to the work that she could not but succeed, in spite of some obstacles. Her paradise was not a tranquil one, for the little woman fussed, was over-anxious to please, and bustled about like a true Martha, cumbered with many cares. She was too tired, sometimes, even to smile, John grew dyspeptic after a course of dainty dishes and ungratefully demanded plain fare. As for buttons, she soon learned to wonder where they went, to shake her head over the carelessness of men, and to threaten to make him sew them on himself, and see if his work would stand impatient and clumsy fingers any better than hers. They were very happy, even after they discovered that theycouldn't live on love alone. John did not find Meg's beauty diminished,though she beamed at him from behind the familiar coffee pot. Nor did Meg miss any of the romance from the daily parting, when her husband followed up his kiss with the tender inquiry, "Shall I send some veal or mutton for dinner, darling?" The little house ceased to be a glorified bower, but it became a home, and the young couple soon felt that it was a change for the better. At first they played keep-house, and frolicked over it like children. Then John took steadily to business, feeling the cares of the head of a family upon his shoulders, and Meg laid by her cambric wrappers, put on a big apron,and fell to work, as before said, with more energy than discretion.While the cooking mania lasted she went through Mrs. Cornelius's Receipt Book as if it were a mathematical exercise, working out the problems with patience and care. Sometimes her family were invited in to help eat up a too bounteous feast of successes, or Lotty would be privately dispatched with a batch of failures, which were to be concealed from all eyes in the convenient stomachs of the little Hummels. An evening with John over the account books usually produced a temporary lull in the culinary enthusiasm, and a frugal fit would ensue, during which the poor man was put through a course of bread pudding, hash, and warmed-over coffee, which tried his soul, although he bore it with praiseworthy fortitude."

apples waiting to be made into something delicious (above)

yummy banana muffins for breakfast (below)

Smells

Sometimes, when I walk downstairs first thing in the morning, a malodorous aroma greets me. Yep - the kitchen trash needed to be placed in the garage last night. Or when I walk into Lena's peaceful room, I am greeted with the sound of her piano music, two sweet hands lifted to Momma -- and the gut scrambling smell of her diaper pail. But sometimes - there is a lovely candle smell, or a wonderful cooking smell drifting from the kitchen. Other times, there is a clean smell emanating from a freshly scrubbed bathroom.

Walk closer to the table, and you'll smell fresh flowers!

Sights

Oh hello, come in! If its the middle of the day, you may see some messy spots! But after all, we live here, and we love to have fun together!

trying on new hats (above)
running to the bathroom for a mirror glimpse of a little head in said hat (below)

floor puzzles are fun!
waiting for little fingers to play "This Little Light of Mine"
ok -- in reality it sounds like something from a more modern composer - ;-)

Sigh.

A messy house makes me feel disorganized and out of my element, but I have to be honest and say that my house is very messy at some point in each day. I try to make sure Lena feels that she can mess it up and have all the learning and fun she wants. She is learning to put her toys away, but invariably I'll find a plastic apple in my coaster basket. Before Daddy arrives, we make sure everything is as neat as can be so he will feel a peace upon coming home.

And those smells, well -- its amazing what a well-placed candle can do!