Signs, signs everywhere are signs

I love the Progressive Insurance commercials in which Dr. Rick teaches new homeowners not to become their parents. Those little snippets crack me up.

Teaching a parent how to silence a cellphone? Ha! Who hasn’t done that? So funny.

Explaining a PDF to a group of elderly people? Yes. I have done that too.

Chuckling as people at my table mispronounce Quinoa? I have enjoyed a self-satisfied snicker over that too.

Excessive (and accidental) speaker phone use? Check

Unsolicited discussions about lunch and dinner menus? Been there.

Printing out directions rather than relying on your GPS? I’ve rolled my eyes at that one for sure.

Too many pillows on the furniture? I have been puzzled and amused by this phenomenon on many occasions.

Do we really need a sign to live laugh and love? Ha! Ha! Wait…what now?

But, message art is cool! It’s uplifting! It’s …it’s….all over my house.

I have two, count them two, You are beautiful signs poised to greet visitors and passerbys. My metal sign sits in my front yard, and the wood one stands sentry on my stairs. No one gets into or out of my house with knowing that THEY ARE BEAUTIFUL. (I have a You are beautiful bumper sticker on my car, too, but that’s a story for another day. Also, yesterday a friend gave me a You are Beautiful mug and I’m loving starting my day sipping out of that.)

But, I digress. My point is, I enjoy inspirational decor.

Through all seasons but Christmas, when holiday decor takes over the mantel, a “Kindness Matters” sign anchors my living room fireplace display. My friend Wendy made me a cool wood sign that hangs above the back doorway and reminds us all to “Count Your Blessings”.

Another friend, Katie, gave me a sign that says, “This kitchen is for dancing” and that sits above the window sill near the kitchen table. Near that is a plaque I gave my mother in-law and inherited back after she passed away. It describes the circle of our family.

Should you take a seat on the old fashioned commode in our downstairs bathroom, you’ll find these words of general encouragement staring right at you:”Think deeply. Speak gently. Love much. Laugh a lot. Work hard. Give freely. And be kind.” Listen, I have a lot of boys that spend a lot of time in that seat. I am hoping at least a couple of those words that they stare at day after day sink in.

As I write this, it occurs to me that my word art may have gotten a little out of control. But, I have seen worse. I once spent time in an AirBnB that had “Never forget to kiss me goodnight” etched into the walls of multiple bedrooms. Struck me as a little needy, am I right?

But, I really don’t think you can remind people how beautiful they are too often. And kindness and gratitude are mutually appealing qualities that expand but never saturate. So, why not encourage them?

I can’t even promise without crossing my fingers that I won’t be adding more word art to my walls. I have a lot of walls upstairs that might very well accomodate a Live. Laugh. Love. sign.

The big irony here is that my own mom is not big on plastering her walls with inspirational messages. So, I guess I don’t need counseling to keep from turning into my parents.

And, even if I did, it’s okay because my parents were cool.

Maybe that’s a sign my kids will hang on their walls someday.

Ha ha.