I love Pinterest. It’s a fun way to gather thoughts, recipes, and cool home decorating ideas for how to make your house look like an Ikea catalog for even less than Ikea prices. However, the more I look at it, the more I want to stick a fork into the word “perfect“.

The perfect winter drink!
The perfect shoes!
The perfect playroom!
OMG, the perfect no-bake dessert! (that still requires cooking and comes out looking like Gollum’s underpants…)

Why are we obsessed with perfection? Especially since we never, ever find it? I mean, really. If those were the perfect shoes, you would buy several pairs and never any other. If it was the perfect storage solution, the search would be over and your house would look pristine. It’s time to stop pinning perfection!

The quest for perfection has gotten me into hot water over the years, especially as a new mom:

1) The perfect diaper bag. I don’t even know how many diaper bags I bought/sold/traded before I realized the perfect one did not exist. No, I needed two or three for different scenarios. Hundreds of dollars there.

2) Ah, strollers. Researched to death, bought several, sold several, kept some. I wish I could say this was only in the hundreds of dollars, but I’m sure it was more. Never found a single perfect one that did it all. I ended up with three.

3) Cloth diapers. Bought a ton for my firstborn, sold everything when I realized I was a blubbering mess of uselessness when he turned out to be high-needs and glued me to the couch for six months. Bought again for #2 when I discovered that no disposable could contain #2. Went a bit crazy with the stash this time, but at least I used everything. No prefolds for me, though. I went the ea$y route: all-in-ones and all-in-twos. Those are not cheap.

4) Car seats. I did manage to limit myself to only one or two or three extra car seats. I had to stop paying attention to new releases.

5) Makeup, nail polish, jeans, shoes, boots. Haven’t found perfection in any of these, and have the receipts to prove it!

I eventually tired of the baby gear, and came to the conclusion that I was bored with searching for perfection in all material things. The explosion of perfect on Pinterest sealed the deal for me. I will not succumb to those false promises again…and I won’t repin your pin if it has the word “perfect” in it.