Immaculate

All my life I have struggled with clutter. I have always had a hard time letting go of things-sentimental or utilitarian. Sean has always been frustrated by my inability to consolidate STUFF and the constant state of borderline messiness of our house. I would say, most of the time people would have considered it pretty clean, but even then there were piles of mail, or paperwork, or a tupperware of random junk (batteries, barrets, keys, pens) on a table (particularly the mail table). On shelves there were the intermittent misplaced item, like Gillian Tiny Things (she, like her mother, likes to hold on to things that really should be tossed) like pet rocks, single screw on earrings, the random wooden bead (who had drawn on eyes, nose, and mouth) and toy pieces. The back sunroom was a collection of boxes, a clutter disaster of a roll top desk (which we could at least close and hide the junk), piles of catalogues, books, envelopes, and an unused piano. Our bedside table undershelves were piled with books we weren't reading, magazines, papers, and random minutia. This past fall, I was stressed beyond belief and I felt like I was forever chasing my tail-taking time from the kids to make the place livable because I would wait too long to take care of things until the pile seemed smotheringly, overwhelmingly gargantuan.

Something happened to me when we renovated our living room. Such an elegant setting as our new shelves and fireplace needed to be showcased. Furthermore, if I was going to maintain my mental sanity now being the mother of TWO, I had to get control of the kid toys that just added to the muddle of it all. I was even more determined after our trip to New Orleans for vacation, during which time Nonni and Grandaddy rented a GORGEOUS (fully renovated) house (more to come on that trip in the next day or two), to get our place in order. Because the owner of that house had a child, and her place still looks great-not messy in the least. Elegant. That's what I wanted, I decided. I was on a mission. I came home, unable to wait to attack my unorganized disaster of a house.

The first order of business-take down the Christmas Tree. I know some people love to leave it up for a month, but if I was going to get the piano out of the back sunroom and begin to rework that room for use, I had to get it out of there. So, after the kids were in bed THE DAY WE GOT HOME FROM CHRISTMAS, the tree and every iota of Christmas stuff was put away, shlepped to the basement storage unit for next year. I wet scrubbed the floor where the tree was and wiped down the baseboards. We pulled the piano from the back and put it on the north wall of the living room. It looks beautiful perpendicular to the new shelves and fireplace, with a violin photo hung above it in a substantial bird's eye maple frame. We got a gorgeous new wool rug from our neighbor that is very traditional, and it replaced our $25 Menard's indoor outdoor rug. But now the art on the wall didn't match. So, down it went (we will be on the lookout for a more spartan replacement). As did the bookshelves in the living room and the CD rack. A much cleaner look was in order if we are going to declutter. I put up the bookshelves in the back sunroom along the wall where the piano was (firmly attached to the drywall so no little climbing monkeys get crushed under their weight). I put our severely reduced number of miscellaneous books that wouldn't fit on the living room shelves on the top two shelves of each stack, and reserved the rest for Gillian's games and toy bins. We took the big fuzzy green rug from her bedroom and put it in the back and put the cute Fairy rug Nonnie game her in her bedroom. We set up her massive Princess Palace on the back room rug, open to the bins for easy access. The desk got a complete overhaul, and there isn't even a book left on the top, and inside the roll top is clean and orderly. The CD rack lives back there too, completely dusted (and concealed) so Addie doesn't pull all the CDs off and throw them on the floor.

The front playroom got relieved of all Gillian's toys that have little pieces that we were forever picking up when Addie got ahold of them. We packed up all the toys Addie was tired of or didn't play with anymore and created a giant box of toys to be donated to the Salvation Army. The front playroom bins were sorted and simplified. The pile of board games and coloring books and papers, and polly pockets, and junk was downsized and moved to the back room, neatly stacked on shelves. Now the front playroom is clean and organized, and nothing has to be balanced on curtain rods to keep the babies from getting them (so many things were balanced up there that the rod support was bent-boxes of markers, cash register money and coins, puzzles, art supplies, etc. etc.). Now there is just a rod and curtains.

The living room looks great-no cluttered piles. The only art on the walls is simple and doesn't create to much visual madness when coupled with the carpet. The mail table is completely bare and has mail that sits there exactly until bedtime-when I go through and shred what is not needed and file what is needed and what needs to be followed up on. The kitchen no longer has the random toy on counters or the window sill. The kitchen table is devoid of anything at all. The cabinets have been purged of all expired canned or boxed items, or anything I bought on impulse that I will never use. This month I am trying Costco-we bought lots of meat and dry goods to see how far into them month we can go, and if it will help us save some cash. My grocery spending has been out of control, and we are trying to get a handle on that and pull in the reins, good and tight, as well. We are trying to eat out a whole lot less. An evaluation of spending at the end of the month will tell us how we did. The corner of the dining room-former home of random bags and boxes and more piles-is bare and clean. There is nothing on top of the buffet table save two candles on bases.

It doesn't stop there-I came to work and did the same thing in my office-I filed every pile on my desk and my office floor. Only one working file at a time is on my desk, which I got every speck of dust off of with wet wipes. I archived 8,000 emails (not even kind-of kidding), so even my sent and inboxes are decluttered of the extraneous.

I guess I had an epiphany. If I am going to be happy and healthy, my life has to be in order. If my life is going to be in order, I need my things to be in order. Sean has been trying to tell me this for going on 11 years of marriage. For the first time in my life, everything in my house has its place. I can't begin to express how awesome that feels. If I take care of things immediately, nothing piles up to take time away from the kids. I have discovered that if I use TV once a day-immediately after I get home- for a half an hour, I can get dinner done in peace and without tantrums, which usually arise because I have been away at work all day and they want my attention. We put the girls in the tub (in the room adjacent to the kitchen) while Sean cleans up, then I make my coffee for the next day, choose lunch and dinner items from the freezer for the next day, feed the fish, get the pajamas and diaper, get Gillian's icewater and Addie's bottle made, and then it's time to wash them. Sean is done by then and comes to collect one for drying and hairbrushing while I do the other one. Then Gillian gets one more 25 minute block of TV (usually Little Bear at the moment) while I put Addie down (books, snuggles, bottle-general 1 on 1 time). Then we both put Gillian down with books and snuggling and prayers.

I seriously can't remember feeling so light in my life. I'm not sure, but I think getting rid of clutter in my home in my visual field has reduced the clutter and frenzy in my mind. I have more patience, more free time, and Sean is happier too. Again, one of those "Better-Late-Than-Never" moments in my 36 years, but hey...I finally got here, right ?!?