So much of homemaking is cleaning off and straightening. I’m not good about this, so things get cluttered and junked up pretty fast.
I had a moment of revelation about this when I was visiting a friend’s house here– she has a lovely place and pays great attention to detail. And this is what I saw: I was sitting in the living room as our kids were playing together, and she sat in front of the toy box to do something quickly, and I saw that she noticed something disorganized or messy in their toybox. And right. then. she took 30-60 seconds and straightened/organized it. Then she got up and went on with her tasks.
I was like: Wow. (I note something junky and it takes me weeks to get around to it. The dread, emotional energy required to work up to this, etc.)
Let this be a lesson to me….And it was.
I didn’t start doing this, but I realized that organized people are just people who do small organizing things as a way of life.
So, maybe I can stop being so analytical and intimidated by organizing and simply work it into my day. Here are a few things I’ve done the last 3-4 days:
I kept our medicines on the top shelf of this closet outside the bathroom, but over the last 4 months of child sickness, our meds exploded. I contained them into three boxes, tried to arrange by body system (an idea from another friend), and stacked them neatly back on to the top shelf.
Andre and Una’s clothes and diapers are in these two plastic containers on the floor of Vitaliy and I’s closet. They were too junked up with extra clothes, and it was hard to find the socks and tights, which we need a lot right now. So, I went through and sorted clothes to store for later or to give away, stacked the diapers neatly in the back, and put the socks/tights in a small bag so they’re easy to find. (Storing/giving away/throwing away is another activity I have to do constantly in order to stay on top of things. Maybe that’s another post.)
This is the bottom of my pantry– it’s in the small hallway to the kitchen and where the toilet/bath doors are. I was stacking my towels here because there’s no where in the bath to do it, and Una leaves them alone–it’s all at her height. So this box I had put in the kitchen, Una started climbing and standing on it, gak, so I had the brilliant idea of storing it here with my bath towels:
I cleared off this bedside stand in our room– Q-tips and stuff to put on a Una rash are still there in use.
And I cleared off the top of our dryer! That is a wow. And I put my two birthday orchids there. I am thinking to start houseplants now that I’m studying homemaking. My houseplants have always died before. But I got two orchids and poinsettia for my birthday. … The poinsettia is morte. I’m still trying my hand with the orchids….
Progress! (not perfection. As Charlotte Siems says.)
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