Our house sits on 5 acres of property. We live nestled in a forest. In the summertime, the trees form natural, grassy-coloured curtains. We cannot be seen from the street. A creek ripples to the side of our house. The earth is soft and mossy.

As you drive up our lane way, a winding driveway teases the onlooker with glimpses of our house and its stone gables. Until finally, the lane forms a circle and the trees break open to reveal our home.

Our home is expansive and striking but blends with the natural undulations of the environment. As you approach the front steps, a stone-blue double door offers glimmers into life behind its bevelled windows.

Opening the door, guests are greeted by a staircase, that twists and winds its way to the private rooms upstairs…

That’s the kind of serene story that may have played out just a few weeks ago.

But, with my husband being gone at Grenada Sailing Week, priorities have been flung all about and out the window. The glimmer of life you might see through our windows are actually shiny pieces of Lego strewn about the hardwood. Children’s clothing lies folded on a vanity table near the front door. Dishes have piled up, and a fly swatter sits in the laundry sink having been rescued from the mouth of a 4-year-old just days before.

Our house has become an assault on the senses. Something had to be done. So, today I hired a crack team of house cleaners. And, they are coming tomorrow. I can’t wait.

Tonight, I’m going to be up late picking up toys and other debris.

But, tomorrow someone else is going to clean my house, and I am going to spend my time studying to become a sailor.

I’d gladly trade my lifestyle to live in a roughly 45 ft sail boat. Our boat will have none of the accoutrements that you see on the boats that are decorated by designers at boat shows. I will not dust a knick-knack but I will clean a head. I will live a life where I put up my hand and say, “Pick me, me, me!”

I long for the simplicity (in a sense) and the excitement of riding the waves to lands previously unknown to me. I want to swim in warm waters, and see a tropical plant at Christmas time. And, most importantly – to share this sense of responsibility and excitement with my family.