Wow! Alright, so I had to wait a bit since my last blog before I started posting anything because I had to see if this was going to actually stick. For about 2 - 3 weeks now, I have been working to get through my house, the kids too!, and get it in order and not just liveable - but in a place where it is HOME!!!
I told you last time, I would share this process with you - one I've been struggling with for some time - and that there might even be pictures (EEEK!!). Now, I know that there are still some of you who still aren't understanding why I've struggled with keeping my house in order and that's okay. My guess is, you're a cleanie, which is great! But I've found, as I share this more and more, that there are some who struggle with this process - yes, some because they have too much stuff or are choosing to be lazy and not address it - but there are also some of us who struggle with it as if it's almost a mental block, like there is something there that won't let us get a grip on keeping our house together, as if it's this part of our life that we are doing everything we can to address it, and it's like it just never, ever gets address or finished or fixed. Well, NOT ANYMORE FOR THIS GIRL! I've found a way to get a hold of it - and really, I think all I needed was to UNDERSTAND why I was having a hard time, and that it wasn't just me, and then to learn a few techiniques on how to get around my blocks and get the job finished.
For those of you who know me and have seen my house, the following images may shock you... so you might want to sit down if you're not already! Now, I do get to say, again, that it's not that my house was dirty and gross and ick or something like that - it's just been in this constant state of chos and unruliness. When you LIVE in this kind of environment, it impacts your daily attitude, how you feel, your stress levels - and those carry over into your daily activities. Since the kids and I started this process, I've found that our morning routines have become less stressful and more enjoyable, dinner time is manageable - meaning it's cooked at home and not ordered or delivered majority of the time because I walked in the door not knowing what to cook, what we had - and then seeing the kitchen and feeling so lost that I can't even figure out what to make, so we get dinner out. (talk about an expensive and unhealthy scape goat!!).
Before, when we'd come home, we'd walk into the front room - where the kitchen table is. I had papers, stuff to put away, things that were collected at garage sales but hadn't found a home yet, notebooks, folded laundry, whatever we needed to toss somewhere for now, taking up about half the table. There was old mail on the table by the front door, items piled up in the chairs we didn't sit in, stuff that just needed to be put away and we were going to get to it.... at some point... which apparently means weeks and weeks and weeks away. Now, when we come home and walk in the front room it looks like this (and the stack of clothes in the far chair is now gone!)
And the kitchen!? Remember what I said about that... well, when the one half of the table would get full of items we'd plopped on it, the bar in the kitchen was where everything else would go. Items that I didn't have time to put back in my unorganized cabinets, more mail, papers that needed to be filed were in my "to be filed" pile (which yes, there is a WHOLE chapter in my book dedicated to "File, Don't Pile!" and as my sister once put it, Piles is an affliction... not an organizational method!) There were papers from the kids school that they wanted me to look at, bills that needed to be paid (and would easily get lost in this mess) charging cords for the phone, water bottle from school - you name it. My counter tops were cluttered with things that I didn't have space for in the cabinets, which I found was due to the fact that I needed some help in learnig how to not only ORGANIZE my things, but to do so in a manner that I would be able to maintain! For me, this means organization in a manner that isn't going to take me 2-3 minutes and a bunch of rearranging each time I want to get something out or put it away - I need quick access to get it and to put it away if I'm going to maintain the cleanie!! Now, when you walk into my kitchen, I'm happy to say this is what it has looked like, for just over a week now! And did you know it's MUCH easier to clean when it's kept like this?!
Okay, so it's far from perfect, but guess what?! So am I :) Next blog... we'll see if I can tackle my bedroom...... (this would be the part in a movie where you hear the music go "da, da, dum!" in that manner that says something scary is about to come!) haha!
I told you last time, I would share this process with you - one I've been struggling with for some time - and that there might even be pictures (EEEK!!). Now, I know that there are still some of you who still aren't understanding why I've struggled with keeping my house in order and that's okay. My guess is, you're a cleanie, which is great! But I've found, as I share this more and more, that there are some who struggle with this process - yes, some because they have too much stuff or are choosing to be lazy and not address it - but there are also some of us who struggle with it as if it's almost a mental block, like there is something there that won't let us get a grip on keeping our house together, as if it's this part of our life that we are doing everything we can to address it, and it's like it just never, ever gets address or finished or fixed. Well, NOT ANYMORE FOR THIS GIRL! I've found a way to get a hold of it - and really, I think all I needed was to UNDERSTAND why I was having a hard time, and that it wasn't just me, and then to learn a few techiniques on how to get around my blocks and get the job finished.
For those of you who know me and have seen my house, the following images may shock you... so you might want to sit down if you're not already! Now, I do get to say, again, that it's not that my house was dirty and gross and ick or something like that - it's just been in this constant state of chos and unruliness. When you LIVE in this kind of environment, it impacts your daily attitude, how you feel, your stress levels - and those carry over into your daily activities. Since the kids and I started this process, I've found that our morning routines have become less stressful and more enjoyable, dinner time is manageable - meaning it's cooked at home and not ordered or delivered majority of the time because I walked in the door not knowing what to cook, what we had - and then seeing the kitchen and feeling so lost that I can't even figure out what to make, so we get dinner out. (talk about an expensive and unhealthy scape goat!!).
Before, when we'd come home, we'd walk into the front room - where the kitchen table is. I had papers, stuff to put away, things that were collected at garage sales but hadn't found a home yet, notebooks, folded laundry, whatever we needed to toss somewhere for now, taking up about half the table. There was old mail on the table by the front door, items piled up in the chairs we didn't sit in, stuff that just needed to be put away and we were going to get to it.... at some point... which apparently means weeks and weeks and weeks away. Now, when we come home and walk in the front room it looks like this (and the stack of clothes in the far chair is now gone!)
And the kitchen!? Remember what I said about that... well, when the one half of the table would get full of items we'd plopped on it, the bar in the kitchen was where everything else would go. Items that I didn't have time to put back in my unorganized cabinets, more mail, papers that needed to be filed were in my "to be filed" pile (which yes, there is a WHOLE chapter in my book dedicated to "File, Don't Pile!" and as my sister once put it, Piles is an affliction... not an organizational method!) There were papers from the kids school that they wanted me to look at, bills that needed to be paid (and would easily get lost in this mess) charging cords for the phone, water bottle from school - you name it. My counter tops were cluttered with things that I didn't have space for in the cabinets, which I found was due to the fact that I needed some help in learnig how to not only ORGANIZE my things, but to do so in a manner that I would be able to maintain! For me, this means organization in a manner that isn't going to take me 2-3 minutes and a bunch of rearranging each time I want to get something out or put it away - I need quick access to get it and to put it away if I'm going to maintain the cleanie!! Now, when you walk into my kitchen, I'm happy to say this is what it has looked like, for just over a week now! And did you know it's MUCH easier to clean when it's kept like this?!
LOOK!!!! There IS a bar in my kitchen!!!!!!!!
Okay, so it's far from perfect, but guess what?! So am I :) Next blog... we'll see if I can tackle my bedroom...... (this would be the part in a movie where you hear the music go "da, da, dum!" in that manner that says something scary is about to come!) haha!
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