Out of the way! Mommy’s Organizing!
A place for everything and everything in its place … now, where the heck did I put that …
One of pregnancy’s less dramatic side effects is the urge to, as it’s quaintly called, “nest.” I nested right up until my doctor hauled me into the maternity ward. Despite being 4 centimeters dilated (though I didn’t know it at the time), I was happily washing baby clothes, vacuuming, and tidying the nursery (for the 117th time).
But, maybe that’s just me. I know I’m a little (ok, a lot) Type-A when it comes to The Way I Like Things. For instance, I have the urge to tackle “spring” cleaning at least three or four times a year. January is one of those times. The holidays are over, my house is almost back to “normal” (there are always a few errant Christmas knick-knacks that manage to remain outside the cardboard storage boxes), and the air is full of New Year’s intentions and the sharp, tangy smell of fresh starts. I’m ready to sweep away the clutter of the old year and prepare myself for the new one.
So, I purge, organize, and clean … like a maniac.
You wouldn’t think anyone would have this much energy after the holiday season, but a woman on a mission to organize is a force to be reckoned with. Even my nearly six year-old daughter has learned not to get in mommy’s way. She may even be getting savvy enough to hide some of the items that might make it into my purge pile – like the dozens of happy meal toys that accompany her home from outings with my parents.
Though I readily admit that some of my activities are merely thinly-disguised procrastination methods (wouldn’t you rather reorganize your cook books than clean the bathroom?), there’s something almost magical about the way a “spring” cleaning leaves you feeling lighter, less encumbered. Clearing out the unnecessary and bringing order to what’s left gives a sense of empowerment, hope, and peace. How many household chores can boast those benefits?
What’s your favorite organizing task? What’s your favorite organizing tool? Do you do your “spring” cleaning more than once a year? Do the kids help, or hide? Were you always like this, or did you start only after you became a mom?
This could easily have been written by me. I am textbook Type-A, and I definitely have THE WAY I LIKE THINGS, haha. I’m outnumbered, 2 and 5 year old boys and my husband, but they definitely get out of the way when they see me collecting boxes and hauling trashbags around the house. My oldest son has taken after his father and also hides the stuff he knows will make it into my bags. I have a yard sale with my family at least once a year to purge us, FOR GOOD, of all the stuff I gather up during my 3 or 4 times yearly crazes. So you are not alone!
Elizbeth, thanks for the laugh (about your oldest following in Dad’s footsteps).
I too must admit that once I get to cleaning, I’m like a tornado. If there’s things that I want gone but am sure will get protests from my hubby, I wait till he is gone and I haul it to Goodwill or a dumpster somewhere where he can’t get to it! I must admit this happens too often though and it’s usually when the kids leave too many toys out. My husband has learned not to complain about a mess for he knows what will happen. Glad to see I’m not too obsessive!
i have a 5 year old, a 2 year old and 16 week old twins….i also work…so i clean when i have the time and energy…i try to be organized and the moment im almost there something always happens and it turns right back around into a mess!
Before Christmas and birthdays, I tell my six-year-old that he has to clean out his room and donate his old toys to children in need. He knows that the more stuff he gets rid of, the more generous Santa is, and so it works beautifully. I also turn the house upside down every Saturday and get rid of my piles and do all of the laundry and make sure things are spotless so that, at least for the first half of the week, my house is clean and calm.
Everyone thinks I suffer from OCD. I definitely clean the bathroom and kitchen more than anyone I know.
Being that I am a single mom of 3 boys, ages range from 9-17, I am constantly having to pick something up.
If I have to pick up one more stray sock, its bound to drive me nuts!
I find myself cleaning other bathrooms and kitchens without even realizing it.
Being a renter, I tend to move every year or two, this also helps weed out things that we don’t use or need. Then a big yard sale in the spring and usually a smaller one in the fall, profiting from our collected clutter.
Hahahaha… This sooooo sounds like me, I can’t stop laughing. I just had twins, a boy and a girl 11 weeks ago. Up until the day my water broke I was organizing and cleaning like a crazy person. My husband gets so nervous when I am in one of my cleaning/organizing phases. I had a c-section for my twins, and 1 week later I was back to my normal self. Ripping things apart to reorganize and put them back. Just the other night, my twins finally went down for a nap, and what did I decide to do instead of relax… I decided to do all of my laundry and reorganize my closet and my dressers. My husband came home from work and our bedroom looked like the closet had thrown up. He just shakes his head and laughs at me now.
You all have great stories about cleaning. I thought I was the only one. I, too am constantly picking up, throwing out, etc. I CANNOT stand CLUTTER. I kid around and say I am alittle OCD, but I would rather live in a clean, uncluttered house. I have two daughters ages 8 and 5 and believe me they can make a mess. Why is it that they love to make the mess but don’t like to clean it up. Everytime they can’t find something its, Mommy, did you throw out such and such? I would reply, why do I get the blame if you can’t find something, their answer, because you always throw out things. I say, well, if I asked you to pick it up and you don’t, its gets tossed (only if its something they really don’t need).
I have 2 1/2 year old and 10 month old boys, plus another boy on the way! I also do home daycare so my house has to stay somewhat clean. With grandparents who buy the children tons of toys for Christmas, I have started storing toys on a covered shelf so that only certain toys are allowed to be played with for that day. Every couple of days I switch the toys out giving them somthing new and exciting to play with. There are still toys all over the house constantly, but at least not ALL of the toys can be out!
Can I please have some of your ladies energy and Will?! I try very hard to clean out and get rid of stuff every once in awhile I do succeed before Christmas with the kids and with EVERYONE in the spring! I have 5 kids that range from 11 to 3, 4 girls and 1 boy and I can not clean and get rid of things fast enough any other time…I start and I just can’t finish!
I wish I had the strength to throw away all of the clutter, but I have inherited the “it may be needed” mentality from my mother. Plus, if I throw away something that is not broken, I tend to feel a little guilty. I know I need to toughen up, especially with my 3 year old daughter and 4 year old boy. Give me the strength! Me, my house, and my sanity need it!
I’m glad I am not the only one liking having a clean and organized house. I wasn’t always like this, though. I am naturally disorganized. Before we had kids I could happily sit and relax in a messy room, but hey ,3 kids later (7, 5 and 2 years old) . . . oh boy! I cannot stand mess and clutter. I throw and give away everything that we don’t need. (while writing this I started thinking about going and “reorganizing” the play room. The kids are at school and I won’t have any opposition.)
I became a minimalist and started loving open spaces and having as few things, furniture and accessories, as possible. I told my husband that it was getting cluttered and we had to get rid of some furniture and his reply was “If we do so, we either won’t have anywhere to sit, or anywhere to put our food on.”
)
The same happened with the kids stuff. If they don’t use it, or played with it in a while, it’s time to go. One thing I observed over time is that the more the kids have the more they get attached to their stuff and become materialistic. I try to teach them to enjoy experiences and people, rather than things.
I also realized that my obsession with tidiness and order is related to my hectic life. I cannot control the business of my day, the amount of laundry that has to be done, the kids activities, the endless trips to the grocery store, the doctors office etc, but I can control how much stuff we bring into the house and where it’s placed. At least this way I feel I am in control of something!
Thank you for all your stories. They make me feel “normal”.
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These stories all sound so nice and peacfeul… I have 7 children, ages 2 months. – 13, and i feel like spring cleaning never get’s compleated. I normally am cleaning somthing out. one bedroom at a time. I would like to be more orgonized and often just don’t have the time or enegry to do it all. But, we get the homework and meals and make sure everyone feels important and loved. I used to be a head house cleaner for a company, and now i have had to learn to let a few things slide for more important time with those i love. I still get a little nuts when the house gets to out of control, but i also now that i can clean every day for the rest of forever, and my sweet kids seem to grow up and change all to fast, and i don’t want to waste that. I love being a mom, and hope to do better as a mom and housekeeper every day!
I used to clean like a mad woman but not anymore, thanks to Flylady.net! I have baskets in each bedroom that are washed on rotation. 1 load a day keeps Mt. Washmore away! Supper is taken care of thanks to the crockpot on the days I work so that I have the time to straighten up or spend with the family. Bathrooms are perpetually clean because I swish the toilet and swipe the sink everytime I walk in one! (I hate cleaning bathrooms with a 6 1/2 foot tall husband and 9 & 3 yr old boys.) I also do as Sarah posted above, every birthday and before Christmas, we pack a box (or two) filled with unused toys or outgrown clothes and donate to Goodwill or our cities Mission. I no longer have to do “spring cleaning” because anything can be done in 15 min. I’ve every OCD and husband is the same. I think our 3 children may be the same also. 1 yr old daughter loves to put on her apron and help mommy, and the 2 boys keep their own room clean without any badgering from me. We do all of this with 2 parents working 40-45 hrs a week! I highly suggest anyone to check out flylady.net if you haven’t already.
i have 3 and 8 yr old boys i am a nurse that works upwards of 60 hrs a week and can never fit a good house cleaning laundry and organizing into my schedule i pick up daily but i get depressed because i want to get so much more done but on my one day off a week i am soo exhausted help any ideas other than cutting my work hours cant afford it.
For those ladies like me that will clean and rearrange the house all day long (sometimes days in a row) til the point of exhaustion, I recommend FlyLady.net
FlyLady has helped me get organized w/o crumbling to the floor in extreme exhaustion, and having to do it over again a month or two later. She’s helped me get my never ending pile of clothes down to one load of laundry a day. She’s even helped me get ALL of my christmas decorations cleaned and put away BEFORE new year’s.
That is me… it has taken me along time to learn to let go a little and realize that the worl will not end if I dont get all the dusting done in one day. Aside from the bathrooms and kitchen, which to me HAVE to be clean, the rest is workable. My 3 kids have to purge toys 2ce a year, birthdays and Christmas. I have 5 small baskets, 3 on the stairs to the kids rooms and 2 on our shoe bench. As i tidy throughout the day kids stuff goes in their baskets as my husband and my items in our baskets. before bed at night we all take about 15 minutes to tidy up the house, put things away, and the kids rooms have to be done before bed. I also find that is
wow – so great to hear I am not alone. My husband and kids would definitely say I have OCD and I might agree, but I am okay with that. I have started teaching my boys how to do chores, we rotate their assignment each month and we do it together. That way it gets done the way I like it, it takes me half the time and they actually learn how to do things around the house. I don’t have specific times of the year, I do it all the time. And I am constantly looking to improve the organization and system in our house. My husband gets so frustrated because I am always moving things but I am so sure I will find the “perfect” solution that I just can’t stop trying. Its a work in process…
cont….. much easier to divide up the bigger routine chores into certain days so i am not spending an entire saturday doing cleaning.. so I do at least a load of laundry every day, washed and folded and my kids ages 3, 6, and 11 are responsible for putting away their own clothes.. yes the 3 year can do it. I dust one day, I clean each of our bathrooms on their own day and this adds up to maybe only 20-45 minutes of work everyday instead of hours on a saturday…
I swear my house is a mess. And I am underway to clean n organize. The holiday break really overwhelmed the clutter. The new toys didnt help either. An 11 year old, 7 year, 4 year, 3 year and 10 month old really make it hard to clean, organize or throw things out when your constantly tripping over then just to walk down the hallway.
Well all of the previous posts sound so very organized… my problem is that I have a 4th grader and a 1st grader and I can’t seem to throw any of their school work away. I have papers from 2005 until now in big blue bins. I keep thinking i will finish all those “unfinished” scrapbooks of school years, and it keeps adding up. I have other things that seem to pile up and I can’t seem to part with. My husband has threatened to throw EVERYTHING away..lol… any suggestions would be greatly appreciated…. how do you part from all the “memories’… ?
I only became an “Organizer” once I became a mommy. Before that, I never organized anything! I love to organize now and I do it several times a year. It makes me feel so much more Zen-like when I do it. I always have a huge pile of things to organize and I never get to everything- hopefully one day I will! I’ve made several books to put all my papers in. For example one is titled “things to do and places to go with my girls”, and I have every pamphlet or googled info on museums, playgrounds, beaches, farms, indoor play spaces etc. that I want to visit with my daughters. I also have info on various classes I want them to try. It’s all organized into catergories etc. I like being able to recommend places to friends…
I have a tradition that I started when my first child was born. Every three months I go through toy boxes and closets and everything that is on the bottom of the pile gets tossed. I figure if they haven’t brought it out in three months they just don’t need it or want it. It’s worked out for the last 16 years.
I AM OCD. I am also former Army. I cannot stand clutter. After I had my son I had to do some serious re grouping to not go insane. He is now 6 1/2. We also do the clean out your toys and donate them during X-mas time. I also do that with his clothes that don’t fit and are in good shape. I don’t believe in spring cleaning. I do it about once a week. Then I clean almost every day. The days I don’t clean, I feel like something is missing. LOL! I also work out of my home. Between my son and my husband I am always picking up something, though I am still trying to get my son to pick up after himself. He is getting better. There is hope!!!! Nice to see that I am not the only ‘clean freak’, as some of my relatives put it. LOL!
I have 5 kids that range from 2-18, and I spring clean about 4 or 5 times a year. I get rid of bags and bags of toys, clothes, and stuff! I really need to learn how to post on ebay, I don’t have time anymore for yard sales. I do have the kids help by bringing me the clothes that don’t fit and the unwanted toys, that way there is not conflict–they pick what goes.
I am always cleaning and tidying up. I have a 2 month old girl and 2 boys ages 9 and 6 not to mention a cat and a husband lol. I feel like Im doing laundry every other day and constantly straightnin up. Anyone have any real real good organizing ideas for toys, cothes, shoes, etc…. I must mention I live in a 2 bdrm 2 bath apartment, so space is limited
These comments are so great! I love the stories, am thrilled that I’m not the only loony out there going to town with an arsenal of trash bags, donation boxes, and a turbo vacuum.
I’m also getting a lot of great new ideas for how to combat clutter and champion cleanliness. You guys are a veritable treasure trove of tips. I’m excited to put some of these new ideas into action so I can start reaping the benefits of a less chaotic and more Zen-like life.
Thanks!
I try, honest I do. However, when the clutter overwhelms me this place becomes a true center of chaos. Then once I have everything away, organized to the 9th degree and cleaned I sit back and wait for the kid to come home and distroy it in minutes.
Life as a mom, no matter how much it drives me crazy I would not change it for life without my daughter. I could do with the elimination of dust though,,,,
Well, looks like I’m not alone in this
We have a cleaning frenzy every weekend. Thankfully my husband and 4 yr old son also help out and we dust, vaccum and organize like mad 
. But once its done regularly, there is no need for a spring cleaning. We also clear out the closets of old clothes, toys and stuff every 6 months and that keeps the closets neat without any clutter. Thankfully, our son has also picked up on the habit and barring a couple of his favourite toys, is alright if we give away old things. With both of us working full-time, this takes a big load off as we dont have to worry about cleaning in/after the holidays and once you get used to it, it hardly seems like a chore 
I remember the feeling well. There was only one place that I never got around to organizing because it was such a pain. Our financial records, medical information and kids school stuff was just in a pile on our desk. A few weeks ago I learned about a new service AboutOne securely stores my financial, medical and educational records online to prevent unauthorized access. Now I can look things up online and on my iPhone. Take a look at the site. If you participate in the survey you can win a free iPod Touch which is awarded in a monthly drawing to participants.
so my situation goes like this… my husband and i have 2 kids. Madisyn is 21 months old, William is 10 months old. recently, we fought for and recieved custody for my hubby’s step dad’s neice’s son, Caden, who is four. He was being abused really bad by my hubbys mother (who had custody of him). i have extreme OCD. Caden has learned that in order to keep his toys, he has to keep his room clean and do chores as my “special helper”. madisyn has to keep her toys picked up, but Caden does different things to earn stars. so many stars he can have a sprite. the more stars he earns the bigger the prizes go and etc. im no slave driver am just trying to give him stability and independence. at 4 he was still getting baths it the sink and had no clue how to even was himself. coming here, i have other kids to care for also so independence has been learned quickly. when my hubby gets upset at me, he goes into the closet, puts a shirt on the hanger backwards and places it back in the closet. see, our clothes HAVE to be
in order from coats,jackets,dress clothes, sweaters, tshirts, sleeveless, and jeans. on top of being in order all have to be put on the hanger with the front of the shirt facing the right, as well as be color coordinated darkest to lightest in color and darkest to lightest in color. if one is out of place, the result has me taking apart our whole closet and redoing the whole thing. that is how my husband gets back at me. i can not handle clutter or mess. my family stays out of my way when i get into those moods.
Do it in 15 min. intervals! Invest in a kitchen timer and set it for 15 min so that you don’t go over. (if I don’t set the timer, I will spend the whole day doing it) Go through the blue bin and put in piles, Must keep, Maybe keep, and Toss. After the timer goes off trash the toss pile immediately, don’t go through it again! Reset the timer for another 15 min and put the must keep in the scrapbook. (you may need to reset the timer but take 5 min. to rest between each 15 min.) NEVER, never pull out more than what you can put away in an hour. Over time you’ll see that your scrapbooks are up to date and you no longer need the blue bin! I suggest checking out flylady.net. We used to live out of bins and my husband threatened the same. I didn’t tell him about the website and in about 8 months of decluttering after 3 kids and myself , my husband finally noticed we no longer own 1 bin!
my above comment was in responce to Alisha from Jan 12 at 1:37! sorry
Antonia, You hit the nail on the head! Cleaning and organizing make us feel like we have a little control of our situation (mainly the chaos of small kids). This is why Mommies need wine, prayer, and celexa!
I make my kids (5 and8) help when i go on a cleaning binge, but only when it comes to their rooms and their stuff. I hope it will help to instill some kind of organization in their life later in the years so they do not become those dreaded pack rats. As for the rest of the house and the shed everyone pretty much bails out when they see mom on a cleaning warfare! This is typically a twice a year job. I can’t stand clutter, and love the motto “out with the old and in with the new.”