I keep looking at my list and at all of those ticks! After a mental pat on the back, I look at Jonathan's room, and then back at my list... There was still a semi-adequate path to get to and from Jonathan's bed, so I decided that first I should sort through the many piles of paper on top of the piano, and the numerous boxes that had migrated there from all over the house...
And, well, just incase someone tried to come in through Jonathan's window to rob us, I'm pretty sure they'd break their foot on at least one of the many toys spread out everywhere before they even had a chance to. Or slip and sink into a mountain of clothes never to be found again... Safety first, right ;)
And, well, just incase someone tried to come in through Jonathan's window to rob us, I'm pretty sure they'd break their foot on at least one of the many toys spread out everywhere before they even had a chance to. Or slip and sink into a mountain of clothes never to be found again... Safety first, right ;)
The list is getting smaller! (and possibly slightly more confusing):
19. Piano (a.k.a. Music area).
While I was sorting through the piles and piles of paper, and boxes and boxes of junk, it occurred to me that my motivation to de-clutter was similar to my motivation to scrapbook... It sounds like a great idea, and it will look amazing when it's finished, but once you have everything spread out over every available surface, and you've made a small amount of progress with sorting through it all and deciding what to do with what you have, somehow that fresh and keen motivation fizzles away, procrastination takes over for a bit, and suddenly it's time to pack it all away and go pick up the kids from school...
This happened for 2 days... Maybe I should have sorted Jonathan's room first.
I did slowly organise the papers into smaller piles (all over the kitchen bench and dining table), mentally labelling each as I kept adding to them:
-School notes
-Kids' school work
-Church related papers
-Scripture aids or worksheets
-Magazines (I seriously found like 20 That's Life magazines that I ended up ripping the recipes out of, quickly glancing at the craft and ideas sections, and then recycling)
-Bills, or anything else related to money
-Artworks
-Husband, to actually sort through
-Mail addressed to my husband that he has not opened yet or sorted through... And he says that I'm terrible? (I am).
-Me, to sort through later ;)
-Recycling
As I piled the papers (into their sections) right back onto the piano, and also into a spare box I had found, the area was at least looking much neater! I should spend another day finishing what I've started, but I am just a bit over paperwork and boxes of junk (that I don't want to just throw out because I'm sentimental and like keeping things that remind me of things or cute things my children have made for me, or bills and school notes in pretty colours etc)! And, well, it's de-cluttered enough for the moment.
Ahh, that looks better :)
Then... What was placed neatly or re-packed into boxes, were <head down> moved right on out to the shed to sort through when I get up to it...
-School notes
-Kids' school work
-Church related papers
-Scripture aids or worksheets
-Magazines (I seriously found like 20 That's Life magazines that I ended up ripping the recipes out of, quickly glancing at the craft and ideas sections, and then recycling)
-Bills, or anything else related to money
-Artworks
-Husband, to actually sort through
-Mail addressed to my husband that he has not opened yet or sorted through... And he says that I'm terrible? (I am).
-Me, to sort through later ;)
-Recycling
As I piled the papers (into their sections) right back onto the piano, and also into a spare box I had found, the area was at least looking much neater! I should spend another day finishing what I've started, but I am just a bit over paperwork and boxes of junk (that I don't want to just throw out because I'm sentimental and like keeping things that remind me of things or cute things my children have made for me, or bills and school notes in pretty colours etc)! And, well, it's de-cluttered enough for the moment.
Ahh, that looks better :)
Then... What was placed neatly or re-packed into boxes, were <head down> moved right on out to the shed to sort through when I get up to it...
Next?
20. Bookshelf.
DVDs... So many DVDs (that we don't even watch) it's ridiculous. I spent most of a day taking the discs out of their cases, putting them into a DVD file draw thing (that I found while taking a photo of the shed), and taking the covers out of the cases... We have saved so much space on the shelf! I kept the most watched (or most colourful) DVDs on one shelf, and tidied up the books, games and photo albums. Things that we didn't really use/read/watch at all went into the handy little (massive) storage space at the bottom of the bookshelf... I'm sure I'll get around to sorting that out later. So I kind of completed this area... If no-one looks in the bottom compartment, who will know that I didn't get around (or want) to sort it out?
I then skipped the Computer desk and finally moved back to Jonathan's room... I figured that we may need to buy a new computer desk anyway (thanks to Jonathan who had ripped the handle off one of the drawers), so I may as well wait until I can empty the drawers completely and go through them properly, right? Well, that'll do for a reason at the moment anyway :)
20. Bookshelf.
DVDs... So many DVDs (that we don't even watch) it's ridiculous. I spent most of a day taking the discs out of their cases, putting them into a DVD file draw thing (that I found while taking a photo of the shed), and taking the covers out of the cases... We have saved so much space on the shelf! I kept the most watched (or most colourful) DVDs on one shelf, and tidied up the books, games and photo albums. Things that we didn't really use/read/watch at all went into the handy little (massive) storage space at the bottom of the bookshelf... I'm sure I'll get around to sorting that out later. So I kind of completed this area... If no-one looks in the bottom compartment, who will know that I didn't get around (or want) to sort it out?
I then skipped the Computer desk and finally moved back to Jonathan's room... I figured that we may need to buy a new computer desk anyway (thanks to Jonathan who had ripped the handle off one of the drawers), so I may as well wait until I can empty the drawers completely and go through them properly, right? Well, that'll do for a reason at the moment anyway :)
I'm not sure if part of me was putting off Jonathan's room because he was growing up so fast, no longer needing any of the baby toys, stuffed animals, or baby blankets anymore, and perhaps I wasn't ready to give them away just yet, and admit that he wasn't my little baby anymore?
Or, perhaps it was just because I couldn't bear to face such an overwhelming monotonous (and what will probably be thrice-daily) task of putting things away neatly...
I can't help but wonder why and how on earth his room can become so messy in such little time... Is it because he is 2, and/or a boy, and that's just what they do? Is it because he's seen me as I tidy up (if that's what you can call it), by throwing things into the rooms -or general direction- they belong in <hold on, light bulb moment> to sort out later... Oh dear, what standard have I been setting for my children? A standard where the pile of clothes to pack away at the end of the bed just gets added to or pushed on to the floor, stepped over and inevitably spread out all over the floor... Or shoes just thrown into the wardrobe instead of lined up neatly (which takes about 5 extra seconds to do). He copies what I do! Which means he's seen me stand in the hallway and throw things down to Ben's room, just because it saves me walking that 6 metre round trip to actually do it properly...
Sorting through Jono's room probably only took me 30 minutes, but it had certainly gotten worse since taking that 'before' photo... And now, I think his room has potential to stay perfect if he doesn't touch anything ever again... For example his toy box that is overflowing with toys and stacked similarly to a half played game of Jenga, where eventually taking one toy out will make the rest fall down...
Also turns out that Jono wasn't kidding when he kept telling me (almost nightly) that his car (that he absolutely can't go to bed without) had 'fallen down'. This is what I found in the corner when I moved Jono's bed out to turn around for a bit of a change.
I've often had the crazy idea of stapling the corners of his quilt to the corners of his quilt covers, just so it stays as it should! It would save me a good 10 seconds each night if I don't have to fix it up...
I am now 2.5 weeks into my challenge and just about ready to give up, collapse, and finish the list next Spring... But, knowing that's not really an option, I will continue to press on (perhaps with some structured procrastination) with the hope of finishing the De-cluttering Challenge I set myself, even though I am really dreading the eventual task of sorting and organising the shed! Which has just gotten worse and worse the more junk I add to it!
I might do some baking to get back into the swing of Spring Cleaning.
Somehow that works in my mind :)
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