This Will Be Our Last Bodacious Yard & Bake Sale

In four days we'll be hosting our Fall Bodacious Yard & Bake Sale. In the past 2 years, we've had 3 Bodacious Yard & Bake Sales. This will be our 4th...and final. While we enjoy these events immensely, it's a lot work that extends over a period of time...especially the week prior. The living room, the home office and the biscuit room are jammed solid with boxes. As one who hates clutter, it's driving me batshit crazy.

Aside from it getting on my nerves, it bothers the kids and disrupts their routine. They know something is up. Coco doesn't like change. In the past. when we moved the bedroom to the front of the house and the office where the bedroom was, and then back again, he was out of sorts. He paced. Was unable to relax. Barked quite a bit. It made him nervous. We comfort him, but he's never quite convinced everything is okay until every stitch of furniture is back where it should be and the house looks normal.

Boxes cluttering three rooms, and more boxes being brought up from the basement as the week progresses, is making him nervous. 

Sophie hides. She becomes clingy. Her eyes are wide. Fear. Curiosity. She doesn't know what to do or expect. Her preferred hiding zones are behind the sofa and under the bed. Lobo just barks. He doesn't settle down when routine is broken or there's a lot going on around him.

It's going to be like this until our event on Saturday. 

I hate putting the kids through this. Each time we host an event, my concerns worsen. I worry about our kids. I find myself muttering, "This is the last time we're doing a yard & bake sale." There are other events we can host that wouldn't put our kids through this.

Lisa and I go to great lengths to keep our home peaceful and comfortable for the kids. As dog Moms, it's our responsibility to maintain a safe environment for our kids. Some situations are unavoidable like Spring and Fall cleaning when we take all the furniture out of each room and steam clean the carpets. Or, a couple of months ago when we rearranged the office to make room for our Grammy's love seat. She had just passed away. However, events and gatherings are optional. They don't need to happen.

The grand finale of all things shitty is the day of the yard and bake sale. For safety reasons, the kids stay in the bedroom. They have all the comforts and then some, but they don't like being confined to a room for that long. We take them outside every few hours for a bit. They get snacks. However, they know there's something taking place outside and it makes them nervous. They hear people going in and out of the house and people talking outside.

By the end of the day, when everything is put away, the yard is cleaned up and we've shut and locked the doors, we let the kids out of the bedroom. They are so happy to see us. About an hour later, after lots of snuggles, playtime and snacks, they're sound asleep on the sofa, bed or doggy beds or pet pillow. They've exhaled. They know the event and chaos is over with.

Lisa and I have talked things over in great length. Aside from the upheaval of our kid's world the week before and day of our yard and bake sale, it's just too much all the way around for us. We're fairly certain this will be our last yard and bake sale that we host at our home. We'll have the winter and spring months to put our thinking caps on and come up with other event ideas. Maybe an online yard sale? An online bake sale? A silent auction? Who knows. The possibilities are endless.