As I sit here and type this I am just honestly annoyed at the hot mess going on around me!
I like to be organized and I think that pretty much everything has its place ya know? I feel happier, more content, …overall in a MUCH better mood when everything is in its place.
I’m going to be HONEST here and show you the way my kitchen looks right now…
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| See even the photo couldn't be edited to anything better! |
Looks inviting doesn’t it?
Oh and for good measure here is our playroom…
Yep, I am aware it looks like a daycare center after a hurricane!
I normally try my best to stay on top of things but guess what? For the last week I’ve done minimal EVERYTHING (and by minimal i probably mean pretty much nothing) around here and it shows and I’m annoyed.
Wouldn't it be nice if the cleaning/organizing fairy could come and do it for me? I could click my heals like Dorothy and instead of sending me back to Kansas it would send me a clean witch.
Well like the money tree these kinds of things don’t exist do they?
So…I’m writing this post to keep myself accountable to this chaos…or rather to GET RID of this chaos by May 1st!
I’m going to deep clean my kitchen and PURGE that playroom of TOO MANY toys to name the top 2 things on my list. I also really want to rearrange the furniture! I'm bored with the arrangement. But, that's pretty usual! I just am inspired to try to do something about it now. The rest of the list remains to be seen…I need to make one though or I won’t be happy…you know I like to check things off right? Besides to be MORE honest if I don’t...NOTHING will get done! UGH!
Do you guys have any tips for tackling a house that’s gotten out of control?
I would love to hear your tips on keeping things in order with littles around destroying everything in their path!
Do any of you keep a home management binder? I put a bare bones ones together and used it for 2 weeks LAST YEAR…but I’m thinking about trying it again…I feel so unorganized with EVERYTHING right now.
Mama’s I need your HELP!
Can’t wait to hear what you all have to say!
The BEST way for me to throw stuff out is if my husband is there going through everything with me. Sometimes I have a really hard time committing to throwing stuff out.... but he has no problem dumping it into a trash bag :) Seriously, helps me out big time!
ReplyDeleteIt has taken time, but I finally am parting with a ton of junk from our home. The kitchen appliance I vowed to use daily, but haven't look at in a year? Gone! The boys' clothes that I'm sure they will wear and wear again? Gone!
ReplyDeleteI am getting down to the bare bones of what's necessary and some wants, but I just don't have room both physically (or mentally!) for much more! My husband is running the Chicago Marathon again and we decided to throw a garage sale in May. ALL the proceeds will go to World Vision (his charity of choice). I am so excited to get rid of things and make him some money!
It's not easy, but I also think as moms we can sometimes be too hard on ourselves. Kids are generally happy, fed, and are loved? You're doing great...
Can't wait to watch your dinner to dump the clutter!
~Samantha
Oh lady I have nothing to say to give you advice because as I sit here & turn my head.. I see the same messes!! :)
ReplyDeleteBUUT my daughter totally has those pink flower looking shades!! Cute kitchen too :)
Ha! I have no advice either. I get annoyed too.. but then I take a moment and think about what needs to get done and go after it. Good luck friend :)
ReplyDeleteKelly, I had to laugh when I saw this post. I just went on a straightening rant in my house. Forcing my husband to put his clothes away (cause he thinks the downstairs is his closet) and making the kids stop their homework to pick up and put up their stuff... total hot mess in this house! Ugg! I'm just tired of it never staying straight for longer than a day. =/
ReplyDeleteAnyways... when my girls were little and we still had a playroom (that more often than not looked exactly like your picture) I used giant colorful bins for toy boxes and sticker charts that I loosely held the kids to, after all they WERE toddlers and preschoolers then...When they put toys away, they got to put a sticker up. They liked it.
Now...they're in 4th and 6th grade...I made up these chore charts and put them in frames with glass over the charts...the girls use dry erase markers to mark off the stuff they've completed. In fact, my 11 year old is doing a load of laundry as we speak! Yaya!
Good luck!
Lists. Lists are good. It feels SOO invigorating to check that baby off!! :) :)
ReplyDeleteYicks I better not say anything or I could be called a hypocrite.LOL I have managers of their homes and it is Awesome It really helped me.
ReplyDeleteI totally know how you feel, but let me start out by saying... my house can get MUCH worse than that! lol I hate it, I do, but it's so tough when you've got a little one wanting to nurse every hour, and a bigger one wanting to play this and that and then this again. It's just so hard to do anything other than maintenance, ya know? I always say that if someone would just put my house in perfect order for me, I could keep it up...but oddly, there are no takers! LOL
ReplyDeleteAll that being said, I saw this 10 minute cleaning method on Pinterest the other day that I am super obsessed with and I'm totally going to do (as soon as I'm not sick anymore lol)!
http://www.somewhatsimple.com/speed-cleaning-101/
Thanks for sharing Kelly! Our house looks like this on occasion too, ha!
ReplyDeleteNot much advice here, but my husband and I will usually just "pick-up" toys and things at the end of each day (after the kids are asleep), so we at least wake up to a tidy place. I get some cleaning done during nap time too.
BUT, I'm really bad about getting overly anxious and bothered by cleaning a messy house, especially if we are having company. I'm learning to let these little things go. I have to remind myself that my house will not always be spotless. I can tend to "idolize" a perfect, clean house! ;)
That's great that you're making an effort to "spring clean." It encourages me to make another garage sell/goodwill pile!
Thanks for sharing Kelly. Sometimes I feel alone in my mess. The only tips I have was what I said about while a commercial comes on - go do something while its on. Then my other tip is what someone else said - make a list. It feels good to cross it off. Wish I could follow my own advice though! lol
ReplyDeleteWe started by just adding 10 minutes a day for cleaning/reorganizing to our regular everyday list of chores. It was so much easier to focus and really work hard, because we knew that at the end of 10 minutes, we could be done! I kept a list of different projects I wanted us to work on during that time, and it was so satisfying to cross them off.
ReplyDeleteMy house is always getting the better of me! If I don't clean little by little each day I'm in HUGE trouble! Wish I had some way I could help you out…but I don't. Good luck to you!! : )
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, girly! I hope that cleaning method helps!! :)
ReplyDeletelol you're too funny! If i lived near you, i'd totally help you clean house! hmm, maybe having a designated area-shelves or bins for toys, books,etc and just tossing or placing them in there at the end of the day or asking the littles to put them in there? and i'd say, a little at time so you're not overwhelmed! and lists are my friend too!
ReplyDeleteLove your honesty Kelly! I feel like my house is always out of control, but my kids are happy. that is all that matters! right?!?
ReplyDeleteA little late here...
ReplyDeleteBut what's wrong with these pictures? That's what my house looks like a majority of the time! My hiuse usualy is CHAOS (you know...Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome)
A dear friend lost her 2 year old last year and during Peyton's illness, she vowed to be involved with her kids rather than have them consumed with something else while she was involved in something less important.
I, too, get frustrated when my house looks like this but have to remind myself to "Pardon the mess, the children are making memories"!
Check out flylady.com I wish Dave Ramsey would have made a cleaning lady part of the necessary items within a budget!
First time reading this post Kelly! Made me laugh! I always feel the most overwhelmed with the chaos in my house around Christmas time. I don't know if this will work for you, but on Sundays I make a list of what I have/need to do that week. I plan to clean at least 2 rooms a day, which doesn't sound like much, but when I am only putting my time into those 2 rooms they get cleaned up. I mean the works, dust, vac, lights/fans, bedding, curtains, etc. I find that it works for me. If I know I am going to be heading out one of the days, then I add another room to another room to the other day. Let me know what you ended up doing in your new house!
ReplyDelete