The Five Senses of my House

This morning my kids were playing the piano, and I was thinking about how familiar all the piano book songs are to me. Between my own piano lessons and the three children who take piano lessons, I've heard all the songs hundreds of times. The plinka plink of the piano is a regular sound in our house - in both good ways and bad ways. That fact got me thinking about how the five senses are experienced in my home. 

Sight

In my house you'll see some clutter. You'll see a lot of evidence that KIDS LIVE HERE - stray socks on the floor, artwork on the fridge, misplaced shoes, traces of paint that won't come off the kitchen table, backpacks and jackets hanging everywhere, and Legos in every nook and cranny. 

You'll also see signs of comfort - pillows, blankets, beanbag chairs, and slippers. 

You might see that I am trying - the vacuum is out, there's a stack of books ready to return to the library, organization charts line the walls, a big basket of gospel study materials sits on the counter, and a yoga mat is unrolled on the living room floor. 

Hopefully you see that we are an imperfect but good family, and that there is a lot of love here. 

Taste

At breakfast time, you'll taste runny eggs and toast or one of Zoe's famous smoothies (she'll make sure it has plenty of raspberries in it). On Sundays, you can smack on German pancakes. There's plenty of milk to go around, and more often than not - orange juice. Because I just can't quit the stuff.

Lunch brings a variety of leftovers or the convenience of mac and cheese. Perhaps you'll savor some Chick-Fil-A or a quesadilla brought home from Cafe Rio. Dinosaur chicken nuggets are a regular feature, but you're not allowed to fight over the pterodactyls. There's never a shortage of peanut butter - we need it for many meals, not just lunch. It's a regular feature in our desserts and atop our German pancakes (with sliced bananas and maple syrup). Scotty likes it in his yogurt parfaits. 

Dinner doesn't get too redundant around here. We cycle through a lot of meals - anything from baked potatoes to curry to spaghetti. I provide my family with regular exposure to recipe fails and interesting experiments. 

Touch

You might get cold feet on the laminate flooring, but there's fresh carpet in other parts of the house to make up for it. We keep our house on the cooler side, but there's always a soft blanket within reach. You might pick up some grains of sand or sugar from the kitchen floor - ours is a home with wanted and unwanted textures including a hint of sticky syrup on every surface for several days after eating pancakes. 

In the morning, you can curl up on the heater vent (I'll allow it), and on a hot day, you can feel the flow of air from fans. 

You can plop on our sofa and find yourself sinking into the unknown. It's in rough shape but if you negotiate the right position, it can be pretty cozy (you'll probably need to lay down).

Smell

The scent of our house changes from day to day depending on the season and what's going on, but there's probably a consistent "Brittish" smell that we can't detect. Some days our house smells pleasant from laundry. Some days it smells stale - like it needs a good airing out. And let's not forget the eau de feet! Especially when it's snowy outside, and the kids' shoes get wet every day.

During the holidays, I never skip a chance to fill the house with the aroma of pumpkin, apple, or Christmas tree. It's counterfeit, but it's lovely. 

We have our share of B.O. and wet dog, even though we don't actually have a dog. 

Sometimes we have the misfortune of fish, curry, or garlic from dinner or pockets of crock pot smells that get trapped in the nethermost regions of the house and stick around for a few days. Other times there is a delightful scent of baking bread or of meat smoking in the backyard. 

When we work on projects, you might catch a few paint or polyurethane fumes. 

Then there's the downstairs bathroom stench that we've never quite figured out. Very unfortunate. 

Sound

In addition to the plinking of the piano, there's yelling and fighting. There's arguing over the Echo - "Alexa this and Alexa that." There's music - lots and lots of music. 

"Mom! Mom! Mom! MOM!!!" 

"Can I? Can I?"

"Give me this. Give me that."

Chatter, chatter chatter.

Way too much burping and farting. 

Scotty speaking to people all over the world. 

There is laughter and giggling, heavy-footed walking, chairs moving across the kitchen floor, the swish of the bidet, chickens clucking in the yard, timers going off for this and that, people going up and down the stairs, doors opening and shutting, TV, and sometimes... sweet voices saying things like, "I love you, Mom!" or "Thanks for dinner."

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Our house can definitely be overwhelming to the senses, but there's also a lot to enjoy.