With spring in full swing and summer breathing down our collective necks, many of us are likely trying to get those last minute projects finished up around the house before the kids are all ours – for the whole summer.
We’ve sure been busy around Casa Thompson, as we have been preparing our house to go on the market this month. And what a chore that is, pretending two LEGO-lovin’ little packrats don’t live under the roof that we’re trying to show off in all its lived-in-for- thirteen-years glory. Before we even get to the pretty darned sad task of “depersonalizing” the house, we’ve gotten to clean out closets and drawers, tossing unused nebulizer treatments from the respiratory infection of 2007, parting with tub toys circa 2008, and unearthing raisins that have been stuck to the floor under the couch since 2009 (at least I think they were raisins).
It’s hard to imagine the house pre-kids, when the guest room was an office and work-out room (okay, treadmill turned clothes drying rack room), and toys didn’t lurk in every nook and cranny of the house. The worst part about showing the house to potential buyers is that there are zero hiding places. These eagle-eyed shoppers are there just to open closet doors, fling open drawers and cabinets, and peek under beds (okay, just DON’T). We’ll call this about a million times worse than cleaning up for a dinner party or visit from the in-laws. Here’s hoping the house will sell based on the curb appeal and great school district, and one stray Hot Wheel or baby picture left hanging on the wall won’t be a deal-breaker.
I’m trying not to get too wrapped up in the sentimentality of the move, as we’re only moving around the corner (really!), but it will be sad to say goodbye to the home we first lived in when we got married, the home to which we brought two bundles of tiny, preemie joy, the home where those little guys took their first steps, uttered their first words, ate their first meals. The door with their measurements marked on the back, updated every July since 2007, might just have to come with us. Think those new owners will notice one missing door? Nah, they’ll be too busy making new memories of their own.
Here’s hoping your May is filled with great family memories, too! And Happy Mother’s Day from all of us at RFM.
