Hubby went into his panic mode today.  With open houses and showings up ahead, hubby is a whirling dervish around the home today.  I can see that the renovators glaze in his eyes as he takes stock of every paint scratch, grubby tile and chip in the floor.

I went upstairs and found “THE LIST”

You know this list, I’m sure.  The list of household chores and projects that need to get done.  His list was pages and included “renovate bathroom” and finish basement… lightly larger than a weekend project.

I let him create his chaos for a day or two, madly “purge” the playroom, tidy the garage and inventory the available paint.  Then I sat him down.

We talked. We took inventory of the available time (4 days of the long weekend when I am taking the kids up to my parents)  We assessed the value of doing these projects. We valued our time.

We realised that the reasons we are making this change is because our time is valuable.  We talked about pricing the house and recognising it needs a new main floor bathroom and updated kitchen. We will build that into the price vs subtracting it from our quality of life.

His list changed! The “projects” are now realistic. The 4 days he has will be focussed and useful. The stress of selling will not take away from the pleasure of moving on. We will start our “new life” now, with valuing our days, not our projects.

Now…how do I add “clean fridge” to his list without him seeing?