Organization

You know we all do it (except for you real Suzy Homemakers and wanna-be Martha Stewarts)...we postpone the cleaning, and forgo the organization.

I hate cleaning, and am mostly an unorganized woman. However, I know where things are in my pile system. Really.

Now, with the inspection, cleaning is in order. And I really am determined to get at least semi-organized this go-round. I have had a spring cleaning urge, and it's coming to fruition with the inspection deadline coming quickly. Although I was expecting a bit more time, I am pretty glad it's coming down to the wire. I love a challenge (sometimes) and the fact that I have seen so much activity out of my daughter in the past few days is fantastically hope-giving - as in, there's hope for her yet.

Sure, I am not an anal retentive person when it comes to dusting, etc, but I do have some limits as to what I will tolerate. And her room was BAD! I will be glad to continue to remind her when you pile stuff up, like clothes, spiders love that, and she hates spiders. *evil Mom laugh*

Speaking of spiders, I got the joy of killing some fuzz for her on Sunday night. That was so fun! She came back to my room at 10:30 at night asking me to kill a spider for her. I know her fear, so I have been trying to get her to overcome it a little at a time. I suggested she put a shoe on and step on it. It was only as big as her pinkie nail, she said. She told me it was on the wall of her closet (she was taking the cleaning seriously I guess). So I go in, and attempt to kill the spider on the wall. It was a piece of fuzz. OMG I giggled about that. Now, in addition to my Native American name of She Who Hunts With Cars, you can call me Joe Fuzzkiller. LOL

Anyway, during this bout of spring cleaning, I am going to attempt to get rid of things I haven't even seen since I moved in (obviously I don't need them, right?) and any duplicates of things that it is not necessary to have a duplicate of. This will make things a bit easier. I also am going through my clothes and donating them. My daughter is donating her clothes also. My son will be donating clothes, toys, and books. This could be a big boon for the local community services.

I have most of my room complete (except for moving the furniture and finishing the closet), and will tackle Little Man's room next. With all this cleaning and organizing, taking that 15 minutes a day to do a quick dusting or picking up really will be so easy.

I have read a number of statements on de-cluttering and organization, but the thing that has stood out the most is to start small. Take things in 15 minute increments, to avoid getting overwhelmed. What a great idea. If I had the time for that, I would do that. But that reminds me to take a break to avoid overload during the big sessions.

Now, if you are going to attempt a large task, I suggest taking it in smaller chunks, or taking breaks. And if you want help, ask some of the local high school kids. I have some great students who are super good at helping, and have volunteered for our family often. I appreciate this very much!

Have a fantastic Tuesday and don't make your re-organization or spring cleaning too big of a chore!