Fastest Way to Clean Out Closets?

This is Robert. This is my husband over a decade past his highschool graduation. If you did not know him then, he will be the first to tell you and share with you his memories of his glorious time with his football team at Dalton High School. If you let him talk too long about these precious memories, he might even bring out these enormous scrapbooks the mothers of the football players made.

Have you ever just gotten completely overwhelmed with things you want to do in your house? Maybe some things you want to decorate or organize or clean? I do...often! Well, as I've mentioned in the past, I am on my clearing through my house binge (I go through these periodically!). My kitchen remodel began the inspiration. Then, I realized I was simply at my wit's end on STUFF! I'm tired of stuff. My house felt like it was shrinking. In fact, my house is not shrinking. Our stuff is growing. My husband and I felt just fine in our house prior to children. We even had room to spare! Then, LaLa came...more stuff. Then, Little Bit...even more stuff. It's either stuff gets organized and cleared out...or we move out and our stuff stays in the house! I went room to room with a pen (okay, a pencil) and my "list" notebook (my spiral notebook designated for lists). As I went in every room, I considered how I could better use space. Did I love or have to have these items?! Do I need to paint something? Is there something that I have been wanting to change or decorate? I wrote details of what needs to be accomplished in every room...in every nook and cranny.

I have a list. I have a calendar. I combined them. It's not as overwhelming because I focus on just that day or week. I have a mission. I am making progress. In fact, I cannot be stopped...yeah right! Has my little family not realized that I have a LIST on my CALENDAR? Did I mention it is written in pen?! Yeah, I knew that would really get me focused. When my family is around (believe or not...my husband is as bad as my children!), it takes me longer to get through my list because we have to stop and reminisce on each and every item! For example, the football helmet from Robert's glory football days in high school and my cheerleading megaphone from high school. I didn't even know we had these items still!

The first picture is Robert "trying" on his helmet and telling LaLa about what it meant to play football and how wonderful he was as a football player. ;) I convinced him to let me snap his picture assuring him that when he is in his old age wouldn't it be cute to still have it?

Now, on to the second picture (keep in mind...this is totally interrupting "the" time devoted to my mission). This is Robert TRYING to get the Helmet off. Hee Hee...laughed hard...really hard! Didn't quite fit like it used to fit in high school! Snapped this picture illegally without his permission during his efforts to remove it.

Now, LaLa gets her turn to try on her daddy's old helmet. It's, of course, huge on her. She also yells into my megaphone periodically to mix it up a bit. Hmmm...makes me wonder...in her future will she be a cheerleader or a football player or neither one? If you ask most people, she probably has a good chance of being either one! She's pretty tough for such a cutie!

You may ask...where was sweet Little Bit? Well, she WAS sleeping until LaLa got a hold of the megaphone!

Off to finish the next room...maybe we will not get quite as distracted with our high school days on the next one!

Oh, HEAVENS! My weekend mess of stress...

I guess I often say "oh, heavens" when I'm in a pickle. LaLa just walked in her room and said, "oh, heavens, mama, what have you done?!"

It has to be done...every mama knows that it does. I don't think my husband has any idea of the extent of work that is involved in switching out seasons and sizes out of our girls closets. It is a massive project. Why in the world am I doing this project the week before LaLa's pirate birthday party? I don't know. I'm asking myself the same thing! I'm a glutton for punishment...or maybe I know that I will clean it up and organize it before pirate guests arrive. It's good motivation at least. I didn't mean to pull everything out. I started small, but I just got more and more involved until the closet was empty and the bed was full. Let me add, this is the bed and the bedroom that LaLa no longer sleeps in because she insists on sleeping in her sister's room.

I'm not sure where to start. I have two girlfriends that have cleaned and purged kid's clothes over the last few weeks...first motivation that inspired me. I really don't know what they have and don't have...second motivation. I need to buy spring and summer stuff...and they have both grown so much! I have bought some stuff ahead last season. I have no idea where that should go. Will I have more kids one day? Should I save all their clothes when they outgrow them? I'm running out of space for storage and I may not have more...or if the sun and the moon and the stars aligned, we could even have a boy instead of another girl one day! Should I pack up the stuff LaLa outgrows because Little Bit is close behind fitting in those clothes. UGH! I probably need to be working on that pile of clothes rather than blogging about it.

I just had to share my mess of stress! I think I just close my eyes and blink and maybe it will organize itself...or maybe I should go to Starbucks and walk down every aisle of Hobby Lobby...it'll still be there later, right?

If you have any organization ideas for closets, please share....

OCD, anyone?

If your kitchen is just driving you crazy and seems a mess, I have a quick fix. It sounds crazy, but I am always amazed at what a pick me up it is when I clear off my fridge! I should've taken a before picture! Our fridge gets so cluttery (no, I don't think that's a word). My fridge is the infamous part of our house where all of our reminders and notes end up. My garage door is magnetic and is nearby so that is where some of these notes and kid's artwork landed. You may have a pantry door where you could put some stuff on the inside of it. I even have a friend that uses the inside of her cabinet doors to hang such stuff.

Now, I still had these pesky (BUT still wonderful and loved by my kids) magnets that end up all over the floor and all over the fridge.  The letters REALLY hurt when you step on them barefoot!  I took painter's tape (all I could find) and made a rectangle to corral all of our magnets. We have a couple other noisy magnet things, but I thought I would trade them out when my girls were tired of these. For the last couple days, it is actually working! They are putting them back in the magnet "home"! No more fishing magnets out from under the fridge, in the fridge, or all over the floor!

Am I pushing the OCD card? Probably. However, I have decided that OCD is no longer obsessive compulsive disorder. Once you have kids, you can claim OCD as Organizing my Children's Disasters! (That's pretty clever, huh!? It's bad when I am impressed with my own randomness!) Regardless, I've learned through working in the field of education...there is an acronym for everything (think in school: EBD, IEP, OI, OT, EIP, and so on). Everything sounds important and official if you give it an acronym! So, I am going to show my OCD fridge off with pride!8)

Maybe my fridge is my version of the flylady's shiny sink...maybe I'm a little crazy...but my cleared off fridge has made me really, really happy. Who knows, it may work for you! AND, who would've thought a taped rectangle would control the magnet chaos in our world? Hmm...where else can I put taped boundaries for my kids' messes?! Wouldn't hurt to try clearing off your fridge. It even inspired me to clean the rest of my kitchen! That is amazing in and of itself!


If you haven't participated in the giveaway yet, click here! It ends SOON! There aren't many signed up...which means that is even better odds in winning!!!!!