I am not a clean and tidy person by nature. I blame my mother...not what she taught me but the genetic stuff she gave me. I am so much better than I used to be but there is still lots of room for improvement. Unfortunately, the girls aren't clean and tidy either. For them, I'm not sure if it's genetics or living with me. It doesn't really matter because the outcome is the same...we all struggle to keep the house relatively neat.
When we first moved back home, the big girl was doing such a great job keeping her room neat and tidy. She was so proud of herself and she loved it. Unfortunately, life got in the way and she let it go. Because of Romeo, we keep all the bedroom doors shut so I hadn't realized how far it had gone until New Years Eve morning. I had reason to go in there and saw the true disaster it had become. In the past, I would have just started yelling and threatening and taking away privileges. That's almost what I did that morning but then I took a deep breath and remembered all the great parenting strategies I'd learned over the last several months. Instead of doing all those things I would have done in the past, I told her it was clear she needed some help in figuring out how to get her room reorganized and I was going to help her with that this weekend.
I picked the girls up from a sleepover this morning and I'm sure the big girl was dreading coming home to clean but after I had a few short moments to snuggle the little girl, we got to work. It ended up only taking about 2 hours to get most of the work done (everything except the laundry). We purged and cleaned and organized. We threw away 2 big bags of trash. There is another big bag of clothes that will go to the clothing bank at her school once they're washed.
Her desk is now usable. We stapled a ribbon on the back of her calendar to make it easier to hang when she takes it down to redo it each month. We hung her new alphabet sign and bulletin board. We organized her closet and she washed all the stuff on the floor...pretty much her entire wardrobe. Then she put it all away. This is where the benefits of having only what you need really comes to light. When you don't place sentimental value of stuff, it's easy to get rid of things you don't need and/or enjoy. That makes putting away the stuff you keep so much easier.
Her room looks great. Her pride is back. She spent much of the afternoon in there covering notebooks with duct tape and getting ready for the new semester. We talked about things she can do to make the upkeep easier and when she can ask for help (anytime) if she's overwhelmed or unsure.
After we finished with her room, I moved on to my room. I cleaned out my closets of the crap that had been accumulating...bags and boxes from the holidays, unfolded clothes that had been stuffed onto shelves in a rush. I got my laundry and the little girl's laundry that was clean put away. I emptied bags that had been setting on the floor for months. It was mostly old catalogs and other trash. I organized the little girl's hair ties in the bathroom...it's small and there is no drawer space. They'd all been piled on the back of the toilet. Now they're tucked neatly into a mason jar on the back of the toilet...so easy and so much better. Why did it take months for me to do this?
I still have lots more to do. There are some shelves in the living room that need to be cleaned off and organized. Still, it feels so good to have gotten so much done today. It's amazing how quickly messes like this can accumulate. We've been here 6 months. As I keep reminding the big girl, it's an ongoing process. We won't be done until we can afford to pay someone to do it or we die.
(Thank goodness, my mom helped the little girl clean and organize her room last week. I have much harder time helping her since she's my hoarder...everything is special and meaningful and nothing can be thrown away or gotten rid of...ever.)
When we first moved back home, the big girl was doing such a great job keeping her room neat and tidy. She was so proud of herself and she loved it. Unfortunately, life got in the way and she let it go. Because of Romeo, we keep all the bedroom doors shut so I hadn't realized how far it had gone until New Years Eve morning. I had reason to go in there and saw the true disaster it had become. In the past, I would have just started yelling and threatening and taking away privileges. That's almost what I did that morning but then I took a deep breath and remembered all the great parenting strategies I'd learned over the last several months. Instead of doing all those things I would have done in the past, I told her it was clear she needed some help in figuring out how to get her room reorganized and I was going to help her with that this weekend.
I picked the girls up from a sleepover this morning and I'm sure the big girl was dreading coming home to clean but after I had a few short moments to snuggle the little girl, we got to work. It ended up only taking about 2 hours to get most of the work done (everything except the laundry). We purged and cleaned and organized. We threw away 2 big bags of trash. There is another big bag of clothes that will go to the clothing bank at her school once they're washed.
Her desk is now usable. We stapled a ribbon on the back of her calendar to make it easier to hang when she takes it down to redo it each month. We hung her new alphabet sign and bulletin board. We organized her closet and she washed all the stuff on the floor...pretty much her entire wardrobe. Then she put it all away. This is where the benefits of having only what you need really comes to light. When you don't place sentimental value of stuff, it's easy to get rid of things you don't need and/or enjoy. That makes putting away the stuff you keep so much easier.
Her room looks great. Her pride is back. She spent much of the afternoon in there covering notebooks with duct tape and getting ready for the new semester. We talked about things she can do to make the upkeep easier and when she can ask for help (anytime) if she's overwhelmed or unsure.
After we finished with her room, I moved on to my room. I cleaned out my closets of the crap that had been accumulating...bags and boxes from the holidays, unfolded clothes that had been stuffed onto shelves in a rush. I got my laundry and the little girl's laundry that was clean put away. I emptied bags that had been setting on the floor for months. It was mostly old catalogs and other trash. I organized the little girl's hair ties in the bathroom...it's small and there is no drawer space. They'd all been piled on the back of the toilet. Now they're tucked neatly into a mason jar on the back of the toilet...so easy and so much better. Why did it take months for me to do this?
I still have lots more to do. There are some shelves in the living room that need to be cleaned off and organized. Still, it feels so good to have gotten so much done today. It's amazing how quickly messes like this can accumulate. We've been here 6 months. As I keep reminding the big girl, it's an ongoing process. We won't be done until we can afford to pay someone to do it or we die.
(Thank goodness, my mom helped the little girl clean and organize her room last week. I have much harder time helping her since she's my hoarder...everything is special and meaningful and nothing can be thrown away or gotten rid of...ever.)
