another place to be ugly

(by hannah)

Above, you will see a photo of my version of, “Boys, please go clean your room.”
 
Below you’ll see the two trash bags of clothes and toys that I picked up and removed from my boys’ room, after hearing the words, “Mommy, we’re done!“ I wanted them to see my version of clean. 

And below that, you’ll see the contents of said bags. 

So what’s so ugly in my kitchen? Well, in short, me! Stomping, slamming, muttering under my breath how I’m not appreciated and how hard I work, and how my kids take advantage of that and are lazy… well, I’ll stop incriminating myself there. You get the picture. 
 
Enter my husband. He’s gone through a lot of life changes in the last 3 years, and I have to say those changes have suited him as of late. 

He calmly tells my boys something, and de-escalates the whole situation. 
 
Below, you’ll see my kids new version of a clean room: 

“See,”he tells me, “See what grace and love can accomplish, instead of grouchiness and…” he trails off. 

“Tyranny?” I happily chirp, already laughing at myself. 

“Pretty much!” He laughs back. And I resolve, if the kitchen is the heart of the home, I’ll try not to be so ugly in it. Maybe I’ll lock myself in the bathroom and be ugly in there instead.