Cleaning House

OK, I'll admit it. We've got a "stuff" issue. We have lots of "stuff" that we've accumulated over the years, and only so much house to hold it. We're hoping to wait til April to get rid of a lot of it because my parents' neighborhood does a community sale twice a year...and that's the next one...but I don't know how long the house can hold up. I could swear I've heard groaning of the foundation...especially from the spare room/office/junk room, which is slated to become Jeremy's bedroom down the road when the kids aren't sharing space anymore. And don't even get me started on the garage...I don't recall how long it's been since I've actually parked a car in it.

We're not total slobs, but we're also not "meticulously neat" people by nature, and I've always seen clutter as a sign of a life that's being lived. If I stopped to pick up the toys that are strewn across the living room every time they drove me nuts, I'd be in a padded room before the day was through. The kids are learning (slowly, but still learning) to help clean up. But there's something about a three-year-old's mind that causes severe distraction whenever a toy is picked up to be put away. It's like a synapse just fails to make the connection...and that toy must be played with. Megan has very mild OCD tendencies that we actually crack up about on a daily basis, and she likes things to have a sense of order for the most part. But she's more likely to line up her toys by size and color than to actually put them away without repeated prompting. And Jeremy...bless his little heart, I asked him to put away his cars the other day, went into the garage for a split second to change the laundry out from washer to dryer and when I got back inside he was trying to figure out how to get his shoes on the right feet. He has the best of intentions, but it's almost like a little voice stopped him as he started to tidy up his Hot Wheels..."psst...put the cars down...shoes are so much more fun!"

And I'm just as guilty...I'll start cleaning the kitchen up, reorganizing the pantry or whatever. Somehow I end up putting laundry away in my room instead. Not sure how that happens. I'll tell Steve, "Tomorrow I'm going to get the office organized," and when he gets home he finds me doing a complete overhaul of the kids' bedroom. Hmmm. I guess I know where the kids get it from. :)


I'm going to start working on downsizing my "stuff." I think I have a bag of stuffed animals that hasn't been opened since we moved into this house (ahem, seven years ago). But it's hard to get rid of things that have sentimental meanings, even if you're not opposed to storing them in a plastic shopping bag for seven years! I'll get there eventually. I just hope the foundation and general structure of the house doesn't give out in the meantime!



Happy belated Valentine's Day to everyone...can you believe we're already halfway through February?