My Bulletin Board Just Grew Up

One of my favorite features in my kitchen is a large, built in bulletin board. For a dozen years, it has been full of colorful art, painted hand prints, construction paper animals and “I Love My Mommy” masterpieces. It made it easy for me to applaud my little kids’ talents and keep our space bright and cheerful. I spend a lot of time in my kitchen, and it made me happy for a long time. A glance at the board always brought a smile or a giggle. My house is not a perfect showplace. It is messy and always shows signs of the real people, living real lives and making real memories in these walls. The bulletin board was a centerpiece to our joyful clutter.

For the about past year, it has either been pathetically barren, or filled with invites and test papers. It was not making me happy, and instead, was just a cork reminder of the passage of time. No little kids … no adorable art. Someday, I’ll take it down and put up a cabinet, but for now, I want something else that makes me happy.

In the spirit of chaos, family and love — with a little nod to my family’s favorite show — my daughters helped me create this. They randomly picked out photos, ordered them for 10 cents each from Walgreens and stuck them up. The sign is from Pazzazed in Ridgewood, NJ, but they will ship anywhere. We will sit with these particular photos for a bit, but as they are taped up, they can be easily subbed out or covered with a pin up of something we want to display for a while. Maybe I’ll have artistic grandchildren someday …