You don't have to be perfect!

Especially with holidays coming up for many of us, a lot of us are going to feel more pressure to show off our home-making skills. I already see the occasional post where women are fretting over the lengths they need to go to in order to perfect themselves, and I just want to remind everyone that the expectation has never been that you are perfect!

Men do not love us because we are perfect, they do not love us because we're the best cook in the world, the best at decorating the house, or the best at anything. You do not have to measure yourself against those glossy magazine spreads of beautifully decorated houses and complex, fancy dinner spreads. Self-improvement is not about being perfect or living up to standards that are honestly unrealistic for most people, it's about being the best you that you can be.

1. You are not better or worse at cooking because you get stressed out at long, complex, "fancy" recipes. No one will love you less because you decided to buy store-bought pie dough, or you stuck to easier recipes. If you love cooking and enjoy those masterchef recipes, then by all means go right ahead, but don't feel like you're not doing good enough if that's not for you.
2. You do not have to color coordinate your house with this season's most fashionable decorations. If you aren't very crafty and you can never get your centerpiece to look quite right, or you skip the centerpiece altogether that's perfectly fine.
3. You do not have to run yourself to the bone trying to get everything "perfect". No one is going to notice if you don't make custom soaps for the guest bathroom, or if you have cute, individually packaged hot chocolates laid out decoratively next to the coffee maker.

Your family and your SO like you for who you are, just as much as they appreciate you for what you do. You do not have to run yourself into the ground fretting about details, and you don't have to compare yourself to pictures from people who PAID someone else to style their house for them. All most men care about is a warm meal, clean house, and a loving woman waiting for them. Don't let the cooking, cleaning, and decorating become so much that you can't enjoy the time with your family or give them the best of you! There is nothing wrong with doing things simply and quickly so that you can spend your time with your family rather than stressed out over a turkey recipe that requires basting every 15 minutes and whether or not your homemade rolls have risen enough or if your decorations are classy and pretty enough. Those things are all icing on the cake, and you're the cake!