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September Writing Challenge - Prompt #22:

Once Upon a Pinterest

I’m not sure where society stands on Pinterest these days. It seems to have fallen by the wayside and become a bit outdated. That’s fine. You know what else is outdated? Blogging, yet, here I am!

So, Pinterest. Whether or not people are still using it, we all know what it's like to be "under the influence." Maybe the pressure doesn't come primarily from Pinterest anymore in 2025, but it's out there, and if it’s not haunting you directly, it’s haunting someone in your life, so you’re never free from the second-hand effects of it! 

I enjoy a cute theme here and there, and I like things to look nice, but I also like things to be easy and practical. So I would consider myself quite “middle ground” when it comes to Pinterest-y things. I’m fussy about my Christmas tree, but I don't care that my furniture is mismatched and mostly thrifted. I love fresh paint, but I don’t want to pay for it or do the work, and I kind of like the freedom of not being upset when my son accidentally rams his head into the wall and leaves a big dent in it (which has happened twice, and then a few weeks before he left on his mission, he rammed his knee into a corner and damaged it). We live in a middle-class, outdated home from the 90’s. I have four kids, and we all hate cleaning. Our aesthetic is “kids live in this house, but you probably won’t get a disease here.” Cozy but practical. Messy but sanitary. Pinterest-worthy? Only if you are a champion of mediocrity and reality. If that’s up your alley, here are some glimpses of our home that might find their way onto your Pinterest board:

We have Legos (yes, “Legos” - I refuse to say “Lego” as plural) all over the house. If I put them away, they reappear. I’ve surrendered. 

Squishmallows have also become home decor. I used to opt for floral pieces and candles on the console, but now it’s just whatever Squishmallows turn up.

Before Nicky left, he put a bunch of photos of himself all over the house. 

 

When the kids clean the family room, a bunch of extra pillows end up on the couch (we keep them in the family room closet for movie watching, and they never end up getting put away). 

Eva’s bedroom door has a posting of rules. 

Our bookshelf always has a row of resin animals. My kids take turns hiding them around the house for each other. They line them up on the bookshelf as they find them. 

Zoe has a huge stash of cardboard in her room for her projects. This is probably one of the hardest compromises for me to make. I hate the cardboard so much! But Zoe thrives on it. 

She got so mad at me for throwing out her cardboard that she added a “security system” to her pile. 

Zoe has also decorated her room for Halloween. She says that the snowman is a Halloween decoration because it’s a “kid in a snowman costume.” 

At least she has a head start on Christmas decorations when it will probably transition to an actual snowman. 

Zoe has been hanging food containers on her wall. 

And she made a glitter light switch cover (which led to three weeks of glitter clean up). 

Last of all, we have the remnants of a snowflake dangling from our closet ceiling. It has been there since 2020 when my kids decorated my bedroom with snowflakes during COVID. 

I think when my kids grow up, they’ll have fun memories of getting to do creative things around our house. They won’t care what color the hand towels were or what condition the couches were in, but they’ll say things like “Remember how we used to hide the little resin animals all over the place?” And “Remember the time Nicky’s head went through the wall?” I like that that memory won’t include anything like, “And mom and dad were so mad!” Of course, we’d prefer that no one’s head go through the wall, but in the end, it’s just a wall. 

As much as their little offerings to the household aesthetic make me crazy sometimes, I know those are the things they cherish most. They like expressing themselves and having things around the house that represent their interests and creativity. 

And as far as Nicky and the walls go, he’s been too big for our house for the past ten years, and now he’s gone for two years, and we have something to remember him by!

My gigantic son in Puerto Rico