Whose is this?
Why is this here?
Pick this up!
Is this trash?
These rattlings fall out of my mouth more than I care to admit. When an item does not have a CERTAIN home, it is more likely to sprawl in the open…making me sound like a broken record.
Drives me NUTS!!
It’s a CONSTANT battle that we’ll eventually WIN…I’m determined, but it requires that purging process we’ve talked about.
I know HOW to keep a home neat, clean and organized, but that does not mean it always happens. Life is the only consistent happening around here. When I make this next confession you may NEVER read another word I write. You may gasp, shut the computer, find another mom blog to read, or write me an instructional, heplful note… But since confession is good for the soul…I’ll risk it…
Yesterday when my daughter cleaned out our refrigerator, she not only found doubles of some items, but she found FOUR…YES, I said FOUR jars of mayonaise hiding in our cold storage unit. Ridiculous, I know. And embarrassing! (And I just confessed it on the world wide web!)
The refrigerator is my Achilles tendon. If I can’t find something, I buy more (obviously.)
What a WASTE!
I preach, “A place for everything and everything in its place.” Yet I can’t find a secure place for the mayo and mustard! It’s unnerving!
Having just enough and NO MORE relieves stress, saves money, frees time and feels better than having an abundance of stuff that floats around in a big mess, or hides needed item.
A few years ago my oldest daughter came home from a baby-sitting job and pleaded with me to help organize the home of a new neighbor. Invigorated by a challenge and excited about quality time with my soon to be new friend I said, “ABSOLUTELY! Let’s do it!”
This job sounded like GREAT FUN…so I called her up and set a date.
My daughters and I arrived at her home and headed for the kitchen (our favorite place) where we almost stopped cold in our tracks and backed out with all sorts of excuses.. “You know what? I have a terrible head ache…OH look a text from my husband..I just remembered another appointment…Gotta go!”
But we stayed.
The kithten looked like it exploded with dirty dishes, miscillaneos vases, kids toys, towels and other random items. Dirty dishes piled high in the sink and continued across two counters. There was no spot for ANYTHING!
It was almost overwhelming. Then I put myself in her shoes and started mapping out our plan for the day.
Dishes covered the counters because the cabinets were filled with clean ones. There was NO REASON to wash dishes; there were plenty of clean ones to keep adding to the dirty pile, thus the GIANT MESS. We discussed purging down to a dishwasher full of dishes.
That’s it.
What that meant was that when the dishwasher was filled with glasses and dinner dishes from their family, the cabinets should be EMPTY! This would make the room easier to keep clean.
Use, wash, put away. Use, wash, put away.
We decided it would be BEST to keep company dishes out of the family’s reach so that the mess could stay tamed. We worked for several hours and filled five black trash bags with donations for Good Will. Too many dishes is NOT A BLESSING! And neither are too many clothes, or an over abundance of toys. Or a plethora of condiments that hide FOUR jars of mayonnaise! *ahem*
Be honest with yourself this week. If you feel OVERWHELMED with the MESS, find a home for everything and GET RID OF THE REST!
How’s YOUR Spring Cleaning going this year?
*The title Don’t Put it Down…PUT IT UP! was made famous by Hannah Keeley’s mother saying it over and over during Hannah’s growing up years. Thanks, Mom!
Laundry Mom~Terri♥
