Leading by example

I am one of the most horrible organizers ever! I'm more comfortable with a stack of papers than I am having it all tidy. I say I get this honestly. My mother is a piler (though, in her defense...she is not untidy at all.) My father is a piler! On grand scale!! My paternal grandmother was a hoarder (yes...like you see on TV and then look around your own house and say "this isn't so bad.") And my maternal grandmother, well, she's a collector of all memories. How do I explain her? She's kept everything I've ever written to her, given to her, or any program she ever attended for me at school. Mind you, this all is coming back to me now. You never leave grandma's house without a bag of stuff. But she lives in a house the size of three of my bedrooms. I'm talking small. She's not untidy or filthy. Everything has always had a place, so where does she keep this stuff?

I digress, which is usually my problem when it comes to organizing my house.

I was telling my bestie the other day that when I'd taken out the Christmas decorations I'd had a come to God moment. First of all, I'm visual. I have to see it all out to know what's going on. So I have empty drawers and closets in my house. You know, those places you'd usually put things so they were stored away? But I'm a lover of organizational items. So I have all these empty boxes, baskets, etc for me to put all this stuff away in. Yet... I still have piles so I can see them. YIKES! I'm a buyer of things, and not a users. And this part hit me...I don't use it because it'll be gone. OMG...how dumb is that!

This year the big Christmas tree had to find a new home since we'd rearranged rooms this past year. It wouldn't fit in the family room. So the best option was to put it in what we call the BIG room, which is a room over the garage, my office, the computer room, and sometimes the TV room (when the TV isn't on the fritz.) This meant we had to tidy up this room, which can't be seen from any other place in the whole house. (I always wanted a house with a secret room, well...I have one!)

A glance at my room and I see crafts piled in a corner. Empty photo frames against the wall with 40 years of pictures next to the empty frames. (Sinking feeling in my stomach!) On the shelves are a mass of books that I've acquired from conferences, most of which I'm never going to read. And then there are the 200 VHS tapes. Really?

Start the decluttering!

The books were put into bags and taken out, to be given to my friends at a book club! The VHS tapes were divided into ones we need to get transferred, ones to go to a friend with a small child and a VHS player, the rest were either thrown out or given away.  The Christmas tree is up and it looks grand! But now I have clean pumping through my veins!!!

Next, I begin to tackle the laundry! Seven people live in this house. I'm sure you're cringing right now. Of course the problem isn't the laundry itself--it's the putting it away. Oh, I've had some clever tactics on this over the years, but that is a post for another day. So I got busy. I got that laundry put away and I emptied other hangers of clothes that hadn't been worn in years. My neighbor takes the boys' clothes to another friend of hers who distributes them to foster kids. Awesome...deed well done!

As I walked through a room, I'd take something with me. Going up the stairs...something gets put away. Going down, take more laundry.  No dishes in the sink! No piles on the counter (almost... I do have 5 kids bring in 5 sets of papers a day!)  Then it begins...the trickle down!

So I made sure to be very diligent with my kids this week and help them before bed. We've kept the TV off. Homework has gotten done, I suppose because I'm not complaining about the mess! Then I said, "Let's take just ten minutes and pick up your rooms a little. I'll help." The elder sons aren't too bad. Son 3, not too bad, mom can stand it, but it looks better now. Son 4...YIKES!!! but we made a path and we are making progress. Son 5...went...to...town! This kid got the bug! He picked up what I told him to pick up. He kept going and going and going! His clothes were laid out for the next day. The room was great (for a 7 year old). He's made his bed everyday since! Last night he vacuumed his room and my room (because see, there were no piles of laundry!) They see that I'm on this kick, and when things aren't piling in on me, I'm not on them about their piles.

It is amazing what a little effort on the part of one person will do for the others. I've always said I'm raising future husbands. They can unload a dish washer. Their father is the primary chef at our house, so they cook. If they need something washed, they know how to wash it. So, if I can still salvage what is left of their childhood, and my years as an adult with some of my mental capacity still left, I will send these men into the world who know how to take it out and put it away. We are a LOOOOONNNNNG way from perfection, but I see a change happening and I'm happy. And to think, (yes I acknowledge the bad habit too) but it all started with me taking the first step.