Showing

Before our house was on the market, I practically worked up a sweat worrying about how the hell I was going to manage the stress of bundling the kids up and running out the door at a moments notice while somehow making our house appear calm, clean and uncluttered enough for someone to come in and think, "Wow. What a great house! I'd love to live here." Most people who visit us, usually go away thanking their lucky stars that they don't have to live with us.

It's been a little over 2 weeks now since we put the house on the market and we've had around 23 showings, an open house and an agent's office tour and, not only have we survived, we've gotten positive feedback (including house of the week), we've had a few relatively interested buyers (although no official bids yet) and we've discovered that we're actually having fun more often than not.

When it was time to put the house on the market I had to get past my worries and figure out survival techniques. None of them are particularly amazing but they have proved to be very helpful - so much so that I plan on continuing some of these things even after the house is, uh, sold? Here are just a few things that I've done that have helped:

* Snack bag and cooler packed and ready: Instead of scrambling to pack snacks and drinks at right before leaving, we pack a bag full of non-perishable snacks and put perishables in a small cooler which stays in the fridge until it's time to leave. We have had showings without little more than 30 minutes notice so that is particularly helpful when we have had to flee the house quickly.

* Off limits rooms: In the morning, Chris and I get our bedroom and bathroom completely ready for showing and then keep the door closed so the boys can't go in there. We also do this with any other rooms that the children won't need to go in. When it's time to show, all we have to do is open those rooms up as we leave and they're already ready and free of boogers, toys and other such nonsense.

* Gates for temporary off-limit rooms: If we have enough notice, I can place gates in certain areas that I can clean up and keep the kiddos out of until we leave. We use this for their rooms particularly when they're busy playing in the play room and not interested in going in their rooms.

* Good and trustworthy cleaning person: I have a wonderful person who comes to clean our house. We can't afford to do this all the time so this is temporary but it is completely worth every single penny. I figure it's better to use the money on cleaning rather than therapy.

* Car seats: When everything is as finished as possible, I get all the little rascals in their car seats in the car (with the garage door down and the car off, obviously, for safety sake) and then I run like a freak around the house to do the last minute fixes. These are things that the boys would immediately un-do if they were in the house. This lasts less than 2 or 3 minutes and the boys usually are too busy giggling together in the car to even notice.

* Fun and free places to go: Since the boys are putting up with us grown ups, we're trying to make this a fun thing for them. When it's nice outside, we take them to parks. When it's not, we go to the awful malls and let them play there. When they're hungry and they really need something special, we take them to the evil Burger Kings or McDs of the world while muttering under our breath about how we hate the places, while we can't help but secretly wish that every place could be so kid friendly and (relatively) affordable.

The one thing that surprised me the most is that I discovered I could handle all 3 boys on my own in settings that I didn't think I could do before. I had had frightening visions of losing one or more of my boys among the swarm of kids at the mall for example but I discovered yet again that fears are often overblown and that, if I keep my wits about me, it isn't that bad after all. (One technique I use at places like the mall is that I dress the boys in similar if not idential outfits - usually bright colors too - so that I can easily spot them among the kids. I also find a seat near the exit of the play area and guard it like a hawk.)

Another giant reward of all this is that the boys have had a complete blast. Why wouldn't they? They're getting out the house, seeing new things and just enjoying being kids. How wonderful. It gives me a lot of satisfaction to make their life more fun and enjoyable rather than have their world's be disrupted by what is sometimes stressful and hectic for us adults.

As I have found many times before, it's important not to let fear and insecurity prevent me from trying new things and challenging myself a little bit more. It has been 100% worth it so far regardless of whether the house sells or not. So, we're on the market and we may be for a long time but, whatever the results, I feel we've made a potentially stressful situation and turned it into something fun and rewarding for all of us.