Occasionally a reader or mom I know will say to me, “Your Happy Buddies are so lucky to have a mom like you!” or, “I’ll bet it’s just so fun living in your house!”
These kind of comments usually make me cringe because if y’all only KNEW! 
There’s one other comment, though, that really gives me a twitch and that’s, “Do you do ALL of the ideas you post?”
Mommies, hear me out.
I’m just like you (with the exception of fairy wings and an absurd amount of glitter).
I am busy, overwhelmed most of the time, forgetful, easily given to impatience, I serve chicken nuggets for dinner more often than I care to admit, and my house is forever looking like something akin to what’s happening on the bottom of my oven.
I seriously finally broke down this week and cleaned our bathroom because it was becoming hazardous to our health.
When I do get a spare minute to craft, either the Happy Buddy is at preschool or he is deciding that he doesn’t want to do any of the crafts I suggest.
He’d rather just sit with a piece of paper, a glob of paint and a paintbrush.
So, with all that said, NOPE – I definitely do not do all of the ideas I post.
I like gathering a million different ideas and putting them all in one place with the hopes that as my buddies grow, I will have a constant source of inspiration whenever I may need it.
Also, Happy Home Fairy celebrates the fact that every family is DIFFERENT. What works for some, may not work for others.
And that is always changing as we start and end the various seasons of motherhood.
For example, I know for a fact that as much as I would have loved to dye the Happy Buddy’s cereal milk green for St. Patrick’s Day, he never in a million years would have eaten it. In fact, he probably would have looked at that bowl as if the world he knew had betrayed him.
But some of you dyed your Happy Buddy’s milk green AND maybe even streaked their hair green too.
And they LOVED it (and I am so happy that I helped you find a fun idea!)!
Maybe one day it will work for the Happy Buddy, but right now his little 3-year-old-heart needs stability with that daily bowl of cereal.
You have to know your kids and then you also have to know your limits, too.
I’m not going to break my back making a big fuss over something that the Happy Buddy will probably forget in a few seconds.
Case in point.
It’s the night before St. Patrick’s Day.
I realize that the Happy Buddy and I had talked a lot about making a leprechaun trap but it was now bedtime and we never actually got around to making one.
So I slap some green socks on the Happy Buddy and whisper that maybe a leprechaun will visit us anyway.
I wasn’t about to spend an hour using paint to draw tiny little leprechaun footprints all over the kitchen counters – although absolutely awesome (as seen HERE), but I dug through my bin of holiday fun and found a few things.
I hung a St. Patrick’s Day banner.
And I made a small rainbow of M&Ms on a shamrock napkin with a sprinkling of shamrock confetti all around.
DONE.
Something fun for the Happy Buddy to wake up to – something easy for mommy to put together at the last second because, to be honest – even with my blog to keep me accountable – I almost completely forgot!
As you can see, nothing fancy or spectacular goin’ on over here.
You know what else, though?? Even though I love holidays and all the ideas I share on this site, I have noticed that a lot of our happiest Happy Home memories are not the holiday crafts or holiday decorations, or grand holiday traditions, but they are found in the tiniest little things in between the holiday magic (which don’t require a website for help).
It’s when I snuggle my boys a little longer before bed, or read them an extra story, or take them on a long walk, or start a tickle fight, or randomly shout, “OH NO!” in the house and then when I have everyone’s nervous attention I say, “Mommy loves you!”
So, there you have it, friends!
Just keepin’ it real and keepin’ it simple.
- Julie xoxo
