I'm back from our whirlwind tour of Oklahoma. It was exhausting but I realized when we made it back home that it was stressful in a different way than usual. I didn't have to worry about the house or being the primary caregiver for the kids or the million other things I stress about. I was just busy. When we walked in the door Monday night I looked around at the semi-clean state of our house and realized I need to get busy. If this is the place we want to call home for years to come, I should care enough to keep up with it. In reality my family should care enough not to trash it but that's a different battle. So for some unexplained reason I began feverishly cleaning the pantry. A little background here: the pantry was the one area I never finished when we were doing the kitchen organization. All of my other drawers and spaces were organized and still pretty much look neat and tidy. But I just could never finish the pantry. I even started putting contact paper down but stopped halfway through. And that was almost a year ago. By the time I started cleaning, the floor of the pantry was covered with sprinkles and goo and who knows what. But I just felt like that was the thing I needed to do. My very astute MSW BFF has a theory that I'm depressed because I'm stuck in the middle of my organization projects. And maybe she's right. I certainly don't feel good when I look in my funky bedroom or wash my face in my gunky sink. So I should start where I left off and finish what I started. After I completed the pantry I just stood back for about 10 minutes and marveled at the orderliness. And now when I'm feeling a little discouraged I just open the door and peek in. Is that obsessive? Maybe, but it works for me.
3 comments:
Good for you, Jennifer! My husband told me today that EVERY TIME he talks to my mother-in-law (in England), she asks how my organizing is going! Oy! I really need to get back to it. Our house looks like a hurricane hit it at the moment, because we returned from a weekend at the beach to both get sick--plus our children are slobs! I still haven't finished my study...but I think my first priority is going to be the boys' room (the younger ones)--I never sorted it all out when they moved into that room. Congrats on organizing your pantry!
Marie-
Thanks for the congrats. I need all the help I can get. No one ever seems to mention the organizing to me. Maybe because I start and stop so many things? I know it may seem like making excuses but I honestly do not see how someone can organize their whole house in a year. At least not someone with three children (who I'm heartened to see are not the only slobs!)
You're not the only one stuck in organization projects. I start, get discouraged or bored or just don't know what to do and then I stop. I'd like to just take one thing and organize it once and for all and then move on, but it's just not in me right now.
Somewhere in my mind a tidy pantry represents a tidy life. I completely cleaned it out and reorganized it a few weeks ago. I even documented it with before and after photos. Today though, it's back to having that "lived in" feel.
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