The reality of living "on the market"

Here's the update on selling our condo:
Days on the market: 13
Number of showings: 8!

As I get ready for another showing later this afternoon, I am so grateful for the amount of interest that people have had in our property! So far I haven't felt that it's been too much of a burden to get the place ready before we get out of the way for prospective buyers. But I have discovered some of the real drawbacks in my daily life to having our home on the market:

There is no stash-n-dash. When we host people in our home, we can make a last minute effort to clean up by throwing things into closets or shoving them into the cabinets under the sink because we know they won't look. But that doesn't work right now! People look in your closets and cabinets! They want to see empty space and organization. The phrase "a place for everything and everything in its place" has never meant more to me than these last few weeks!

So-called "quick errands" require much more planning and preparation. As I was getting ready to load the kids up and make a quick run to Walmart this morning, I suddenly had this thought: "What if I get a call while we are there? Will I abandon my cart, speed home, and tidy the place up before they come?" I realized that this was silly, and that I had to walk out the door with the place ready for someone to walk in. Even if I was only going to be gone for a half hour, as was my plan this morning, I had to leave everything in perfect condition, just in case. Ugh. I think it took me longer to get the place ready than it did to actually run our errand. And wouldn't you know, it was shortly after I got home that I received a call to schedule a showing for later this afternoon. Murphy's Law! (But at least everything is ready now!)

Making clean-up fun is essential. Before Lucy goes to bed each night she is required to help clean up her toys and other belongings. This part of her routine is usually met with whining and sudden lethargy from a previously energetic girl. To help combat this dread, I developed "Operation Whirlwind." When I yell out those magic words, Lucy's energy suddenly picks up as she tears through the house like a Tasmanian devil in an effort to clean up quickly. I cheer her on, as I'm wiping counters or pulling up the window shades, and she's done in a matter of minutes. Her job is then to put on her shoes and try to keep her brother on the mat by the front door. She seems to enjoy this responsibility and understands that Operation Whirlwind is important to me. (I tried it at bedtime and the magic just wasn't there.)

Showings create a bit of a time warp in life. It's great that we are given plenty of warning when a buyer wants to visit. As of yet, we haven't had anything less than about two hours to prepare for a showing. But we also realize that it takes about ten minutes to see our entire condo. Twice. Their ten-minute visit takes two hours of our lives. It's too bad they don't tell us when they have gone in the same way they tell us they are coming. Knowing this is a completely unrealistic expectation, we burn the 5 pm to 7 pm time slot away from home not knowing if our visitors have come and gone at 5:05 or 6:55.

But overall I am so grateful to have to be gone for those windows of time! And I'm so grateful that the kids have been cooperative and cheerful in all of this, even when it means a missed or delayed nap. So we clean, we tidy, and we get out of the way in the hopes that one of these visits will bring someone who will fall in love with our home the way we did six years ago.