Put it off for a day and ten will go by. - Chinese Proverb
Two projects I have been dreading were organizing our bedroom, and the school room.
Our bedroom is very large and has a dividing wall, so the half that we actually sleep in was decently tidy and organized.
The other half is our laundry station, where we store all clean laundry. The boys fold all the things that need folding, and I hang everything else on one big commercial metal rack, then everyone takes their things to their own personal closets. With a family our size, I love the idea of having just one giant family closet, but our house is just not suitable for that. Our system works great for us, just as long as we work it.
We also store various books and boxes of toys on book shelves in that half of the bedroom, so the girls can stay in there with me and the boys as we work on laundry. Plus, it is so much easier to keep the kids' rooms clean when their toys are not stored in there!
Well, this whole side of the bedroom had become one big giant mess, and was quickly spiraling into total chaos as nobody felt the need to keep something tidy that was already messy when they got there. The boys helped me get the whole room, plus the master closet, in tip-top shape in one afternoon this past week. John especially was extra friendly and helpful, and worked cheerfully and without a single complaint the whole time.
Solomon labeled whatever bins had no labels yet. If you do not have a label maker, you need one! Becky is a little neat freak. She was playing in my bedroom the next morning as I was spending some time playing with Anna on the bed. I about had a heart attack when I turned around and found the mess she had made while playing. I asked her if she was going to tidy up her stuff when she was done, and sure enough, when she tired of playing, she put everything (and I do mean every single thing) back exactly where she had taken it from, all while happily singing to herself. She is always like that - makes lots of messes, but cleans up behind herself.
Tomorrow, tomorrow, but not today is what all the lazy people say. - German saying
Yesterday, we tackled the school room. We got all the cleaning and tidying done, but I have yet to box up the kids school books and art work from this year in their own individual boxes in the attic. I am so bad about throwing any of their stuff out, and whenever I finally bring myself to do it, they find it in the trash and get really sad. Whatever - I will just dump boxes upon boxes of plastic rubbermaid containers full of every snippet of artwork they ever touched on them on their wedding day. They can take it all and have fun looking through it.
I feel so much better now that these two humongous jobs are off my to-do list. We start back on our regular school routine the day after Labor Day, so it was about time I swept the cobwebs out of the school room.
Tomorrow is often the busiest day of the week.
I am like you. I've also noticed that dreading a job is always worse than actually doing it. Nothing ever takes as long as I thought it would! When I finish a big cleaning job, like the linen closet, I notice every time I walk by it I open it because it makes me smile and feel peaceful.
ReplyDeletein His peace,
Miriam
ugh I am the WORST for procrastination! An idea for all the artwork, have your kids go through the boxes and choose maybe 20 favorites each then frame those ones and hang them up in the play room or their bedrooms. It makes really cute, very inexpensive decorations! Ikea has frames for like 99 cents each. And by letting the kids choose which ones to keep there are no hurt feelings.
ReplyDeleteyou are an ideal mother... just want to know if you allow your kids doing their homeschooling subjects even you are not at home... there are times that I have to be out of home, my problem is my kids never do their PACES because sometimes they don't know what to do.
ReplyDelete