As told by a super cute two-and-a-quarter-year-old girl.

Lately, Mommy and Daddy have been talking to these people in suits about pricing, staging, and showings. I’m not sure what those things mean, but the people seem nice enough. At first, I went to my cousins’ house or my friend Kaydin’s house a couple of times so Mommy and Daddy could clean, paint, and move things into storage to get our house ready to sell. It was fun playing with my cousins and friend, but I missed my parents. They also seemed very tired.

There was a fun new sign put out in the front yard. Also, I could’t quite find ALL of my toys. I think I saw my mom stash them in boxes in the basement. Oh well – it’s not like I can play with all of my toys at once anyway, right?

Mommy started letting me watch more TV and shows on the iPad than ever before! It’s been great! But, again – she and Daddy have seemed tired. And, he keeps saying (after cleaning every single morning before work) that he’s “never going to clean again in his life.” That seems a bit dramatic to me.

While Mommy and Daddy didn’t seem too happy about the fact that the sign in our front yard was there for two months, I must tell you – we’ve taken so many fun adventures outside the house since the sign got there. I don’t know what an “open house” or a “showing” is, but whatever they are, because of them, I got to:

• splash around at the Ashby Park Splash Pad SEVERAL times!
• go to the Des Moines Moms Blog Heritage Park Play Date and ride the carousel over and over.
• go to the Blank Park Zoo all day. This was already on the agenda, but it still counts.
• use up restaurant gift cards in Daddy’s wallet.
• see lots of cousins and other family members at Tuttle Lake in northern Iowa.
• spend the day at the Iowa State Fair. Have you ever gone down that big yellow slide?!
• play at my favorite parks EXTRA!
• get ice cream at Snookies Malt Shop more than usual.
• go to an Iowa Cubs game. (Also on the agenda, but the Sunday was chosen wisely.)
• go play and hike at Ledges State Park on one of the nicest weather days of the year.

So, I guess in conclusion…

It seems like selling a house is really stressful for the grownups, and they might feel a little guilty for stashing you with friends and family once in a while to get the house ready. But, what they don’t realize is that it’s actually really fun finding ways to “kill time” while strangers are looking at your house. It was a hassle to be away from the house so often, but my parents came up with some really fun ways to deal with that. It was actually a great opportunity to take family adventures in and around Des Moines.

If your family decides to sell your house, don’t worry! You may have access to fewer toys and your parents may become obsessively clean. But, you also may get to do lots of fun things. Plus – I bet you get a nice new place to play with ALL of your toys! I sure am enjoying my new house.

How have you helped your kiddos survive the selling of a house?