We visited Mum, Dad and my 'confined' sister on Wednesday night. Mum kindly offered to have the legs of some new (size 12) pants put up for me (yes, I'm a shorty!), and I had to borrow a pair of shoes just to check the length.
OMG it's no wonder I almost have a heart attack every time my mother comes to visit!! Her house is SPOTLESS. S-P-O-T-L-E-S-S!!! Not a thing was out of place. Her shoes were lined up. Her clothes were organised and neat. There wasn't a speck of dust.
And then I came home. I have "stuff" EVERYWHERE. E-V-E-R-Y-W-H-E-R-E. It drives me insane!!! But not only do I want to have everything to have it's place, I want everything to STAY in its' place. For I know, even if I managed to get everything tidy and put in its place, it will NOT stay there. I can't maintain that!
The kids pull everything out in a second, my husband dumps his paperwork on the kitchen bench, and *I* find it hard to put things away in their spot when I'm busy running around after squabbling kids.
But it's all organised chaos {in that I tend to be able to find everything... mostly... given time...}, that I know will only get worse at the year gets on, with LegoBoy at kindy (NSW) and Daisy at preschool, there will be paperwork and artwork everywhere - and that's not even counting the bills, mail and other scattered mess.
I am still at a loss with what to do with the kids artwork - certainly we can't keep it all. And I'd really like to have a bit of a daily "timetable" for LegoBoy, but have nowhere to put it that wouldn't be totally random - the fridge is only so big.
OMG it's no wonder I almost have a heart attack every time my mother comes to visit!! Her house is SPOTLESS. S-P-O-T-L-E-S-S!!! Not a thing was out of place. Her shoes were lined up. Her clothes were organised and neat. There wasn't a speck of dust.
And then I came home. I have "stuff" EVERYWHERE. E-V-E-R-Y-W-H-E-R-E. It drives me insane!!! But not only do I want to have everything to have it's place, I want everything to STAY in its' place. For I know, even if I managed to get everything tidy and put in its place, it will NOT stay there. I can't maintain that!
The kids pull everything out in a second, my husband dumps his paperwork on the kitchen bench, and *I* find it hard to put things away in their spot when I'm busy running around after squabbling kids.
But it's all organised chaos {in that I tend to be able to find everything... mostly... given time...}, that I know will only get worse at the year gets on, with LegoBoy at kindy (NSW) and Daisy at preschool, there will be paperwork and artwork everywhere - and that's not even counting the bills, mail and other scattered mess.
I am still at a loss with what to do with the kids artwork - certainly we can't keep it all. And I'd really like to have a bit of a daily "timetable" for LegoBoy, but have nowhere to put it that wouldn't be totally random - the fridge is only so big.
So I either need to learn to deal with the clutter or do something about it. If I were motivated!
It's too hard with little kids to keep things so neat and tidy.
ReplyDeleteAs for the artwork-I keep maybe 5% of it and chuck the rest in the recycling bin. Not when my daughter is looking of course!
I've just convinced my partner that we need a cleaning lady once a fortnight for two hours. The plan is that some of our time will be freed up so we can keep things tidier. In theory anyway!
ReplyDeleteDon't stress or be too hard on yourself. Your Mum doesn't have 3 young kids and some of us aren't naturally organised.Just enjoy it when your at her house. I would recommend the guy thats on OPRAH. His name is Peter Walsh. he is awesome about helping you get some of the clutter under control. I think if you go to her website he is on it. Hey he helped me and I'm (I was) the queen of clutter. Also there are usually a few books on the subject at the library and these also helped.(I know it's sad that I need to be taught how to be tidy LOL).
ReplyDeleteThe main thing I have learnt is if you bring in something new get rid of something old and try to limit what you bring in in the first place.As for the kids artwork. Yep I'm still working on that one too. I made each of them a scrapbook and stick in the stuff I really like or things they can't bear to part with. Other than that I had to be ruthless.
Good Luck
Yes, organisation would be wonderful! Now that we have a two story house, we have a no toys downstairs rule, which works 5 days out of 7, so getting there.
ReplyDeleteArt wise, I have purchased 6 frames from ikea, with plastic fronts. The kids have three each, hung on command hooks in the hall, and may change whenever they want. Then they have a folder each filled with plastic sheets. When they are full, they have to choose what to chuck. The extra special ones (my choices!) get laminated and put in their 'special box', a cardboard carton from ikea, decoupaged and varnished.
Check out Flylady. The volume of emails can be a little overwhelming but you can manage the delivery so it is a digest. I think her basic principals are fantastic and they really do help. Lisa.
ReplyDelete