Hey Guys!
I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! This week me and my little family were very busy, and our toddler was sure to keep us on our toes. The current happenings have sparked wonderful memories as I reminisce about my childhood.
The past couple of weeks we have been working with my in-laws on a renovation project in their home.
There is something about construction that just speaks to me. Hearing saws and nail guns all day just made me feel at home. It was like I was missing something.
I wanted so badly to be right there in the middle of it, laying the floor too. But I was the designated babysitter for Hudson. And boy he kept me busy. Constantly. I couldn’t seem to have one minute to get anything done!
Hudson just wanted to “help” us in so many ways.
Most of the time it is super cute, yet at the same time it takes twice as long, is three times harder, and the mess…. At least quadrupled!
It’s hard!!
But as I was debating in my head “Why did we bring Hudson here?” …… I thought of my childhood. That’s why I love construction. That is where my love and passion for home design came from.
If it weren’t for those skinned-up sawdust knees, dirty jeans, and lots and lots of “helping” I can guarantee you I wouldn’t be as interested in home construction and design as I am today. I spent countless hours day dreaming what a house would look like once completed. I had plenty of time to daydream, but I also had plenty of time to help around the job and try to be useful.
I have always thought I was a big “help” to my Dad when I came to work with him….. But after a couple weeks of Hudson following us around every corner and picking up hammers and constantly redirecting his interests from the power tools, I realized….. Maybe I wasn’t that big of a help. For a very long time at least. I mean years and years of me probably being completely in the way and gumming up projects, slowing things down. Perhaps occasionally breaking things.
Yet, I believe my parents wanted me to experience the entire process of home building from start to finish so I could see that hard work pays off. That a vision brings desired results.
My entire childhood I remember going to job sites. Bringing Dad lunches & cookies and sweeping. The sawdust never stopped. “Kelsie grab that broom and let’s clean up this place for tomorrow.” I was always on cleanup duty. It didn’t matter if it was my future home or if it was a client’s.
However, I am starting to sense that it was more work to bring me along. But man I am so glad my parents did. I loved packing up cookies with my Mom or being the lucky girl that brought in my Dad’s Dewalt bright yellow lunchbox as if I was the one who did all the work (thanks Mom!).
The only thing I wish was different is that there were many more pictures of my five year old self eating Mcdonalds on a sawhorse like a queen. Or a video of me “helping” Dad carry a giant bag of screws in a brand new house and then I accidently dumped them all over the stairs. I’m sure there would be many pictures of me and my brother racing to pick up nails so we could get our pennies, or a couple videos firsthand of us fighting over which “jobs” were the worst.
Those are wonderful & fun memories to look back on. That’s for sure!!
So I guess even though the last two weeks I feel like I haven’t helped my in-laws too much with their house, at least my cute little toddler might think he’s a hero.
And he is. He is my little mighty hero.
So, hopefully my patience can be increased and maybe my high expectations of what should be done in a given period of time can be lowered. Perhaps then, I can live in the moment with my little toddler, and also enjoy his time of being a “Happy Helper” as he “paints” the floor.
These are the days, aren’t they? Capture the moments on your camera, but most importantly, capture and hold them close to your heart.
Xoxo,
Kelsie Ann
