It just hit me that that title doesn't really sound right. I'm meaning it as in 'breaking in a new pair of tennis shoes' not stealing the tennis shoes. We actually bought this house - we didn't break into it...but we are definitely 'breaking it in'. Now that I've made everything clear as mud, we can begin our little story.
We just moved a few weeks ago and are having a wonderful time trying to make our mark on this new home. Actually, its a pre-owned home, so we need to get our smell in it (this post is just going from bad to worse, isn't it?! - that's not the kind of smell I mean...), our personality, our TLC. These are 4 sure-fire ways that have helped us put our mark on this house and call it our own.
1. Make sure the upstairs toilet overflows the first day you own it. Be sure that all towels are still packed snugly in an unmarked box so that the only thing available to stop the excess water from dripping down the stairs are small random face cloths and paper towels. Make sure this happens while your Daddy is in a video-conference meeting downstairs in his office and your Mommy is not at home. Throw in one child who, when put in the middle of a stressful situation, panics and turns into a statue covering his face because he can't stand to see the mess...another child who has a guilty look on his face but keeps saying "it's not my fault!" and yet another who starts crying because it doesn't look pretty anymore. There is now no question about which bathroom to avoid in this house. Thankfully, we discovered this 'selling point' early on.
2. Play a family game of Hide-and-Seek. So much fun. It's especially fun when no one finds you and you keep staying in the same cramped quarters for 15 minutes or more. An added benefit of this game is having to hide with one of your children because she is too scared to hide by herself - so now, in this highly competitive and time-sensitive game, you not only have to find the perfect hiding spot for yourself, but one for your companion.
3. Make up lots of running games since you now have a huge space to run around in - INSIDE the house. I normally have the rule that all moms have: no running in the house. But how can you enforce it when the one who made up the game is the DAD?! Chuck tells the kids, "I'll go to some far corner of the house and then try to run like my tail is on fire to the other end of the house while you kids hide and try to jump out and tag me while on my way to previously decided upon destination." Oh goodie. I actually never saw this game first hand (thank God!) but heard from all involved how 'totally cool' it was. But I was privy to another little running game, also thought up by my ever creative and ingenious husband, called, "Let's run up and down the steps as fast as we can and count how many seconds it takes" (right after we have already put our daughter to bed, which just happens to be at the top of this staircase - minor point). Again, our competitive natures take hold and I just can't be left out of something so fun...so we each do it twice. We even timed it on the iPhone - so it was official. Chuck tried the 'skip alot of steps' method whereas, I chose the 'run real fast up each step so you don't trip up the steps' method. Seemed to work fine since I only came in a second after Chuck. But both boys tied my score. I'm still baffled by that...how can that be when their legs are shorter than mine?
4. Lastly, in an effort to give the house a nice aroma, put your favorite dish on the stove to simmer and let the smells waft through the house. Simmer is the key word here - medium...that would be too high. I found out. I put a pot of homemade spaghetti sauce on the stove (on medium) and left to take Gavin to piano class. An hour later I come home to the lovely aroma of: burnt spaghetti?! Gross!!! It stunck so bad. I'd say this house is almost broken in now...and what do you know, it only took 3 weeks?! Not bad.
