I recently saw a reel that made me feel five again. When @bethanyciotola posted her Christmas Eve floral arrangement, I was more focussed on what was going on in the background. Children’s drawings adorned the fridge.
It brought back the memory of presenting drawings of my parents to them and the pride of having my masterpieces blu-tacked to the fridge. That said, I think that our desire for chic interiors has gone too far.
By all means, have a neutral, minimalist home. Far be it from me to tell you not to have a chic home; I recently just told you that it’s okay to have kids and a muted home. But that portrait of you that they made that has three strands of hair and looks like a potato is precious.
“When You Get Your Own House…”
I don’t know if you grew up in a home where if you didn’t like something, your parents would say: “When you get your own house, you can do whatever you want.” I was blessed with parents that would hang up my art but by no means was my family home’s design a democracy.
Yes, the home is not a democracy but in order to have a peaceful home you do need some diplomacy and even silver-tongued diplomats accept that compromise is sometimes necessary.
I think that letting your kids have a part to play in home design and explaining to them the importance of it can help them to see the value in their contributions and work hard to care for and preserve it. When you’re not willing to share some creative control, you’ll find people who don’t care about the project as much as you do (and as a result, more mess.)
Let Art Be Bad
I think it’s so strange that art is not allowed to suck. We live in a world where in politics, economics and science, depending on our stance, we always come across something that we think sucks. It could be a school of thought, a group’s practices, or a single statement. We accept that some things suck. So why then, when it comes to art, does everything have to be flawless and agreeable?
I think that people hide away the potato portraits for the same reason that they don’t visit modern art museums. They aren’t willing to be associated with anything that doesn’t signal excellence. That’s a narrow definition of excellence (and in my opinion, that definition sucks.)
Excellence can be encouragement even when your child’s painting of a butterfly warrants a trip to Specsavers. Because one day, a slightly better iteration of that butterfly painting might come home. Even if that sucks, allowing children to discover their passions is essential.
When you’re old and frail, you won’t remember how cool the smart fridge you bought was. You won’t even remember the little jingle it made. But your kids will remember how you loved them, not only with your words but with your actions.
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