Motivation for the Month of the Closets

We've past the halfway point of the month. How can that be? Days drag on and on but weeks fly by and months are barely noticeable. So is life, I guess.

With just two weeks left in the Month of the Closets (http://thewingmom.blogspot.com/p/january-skeletons-out-of-closets.html) I thought I would share how my closet clean-out is going. There has literally been blood, sweat and tears. And you should know that I am one of those people who do not misuse the term literally. These things really happened: I bled, I sweat and I admit, I cried a little. The tears though were of course spurred by finding nostalgic items in my children's closets.

Kids live in your house??

One of the greatest bits of mommy advice I have ever received came from my dear friend Daisy (www.oncetwicethreetimesamommy.blogspot.com).

We had gotten our families together despite the two state gap. This was pre-Ladybug but it still meant the kids outnumbered the grown-ups, five to four. It was a great visit; I love being in Daisy's home. We had plans for a family they knew from college to bring their kids and come join the craziness for dinner that night. Just one little hiccup, one of Daisy's kiddos got sick.

While Daisy hauled her little Peach into the urgent care, I set to entertaining the remaining four kids and the dads, well, they worked together at watching the smoker make our dinner. Boys will be boys.

Enough is Enough, Sometimes It's Too Much

How much is enough? That's a tough question and it really depends on what you are talking about. Gorgonzola cheese? Never enough. Worn-out holed-up socks? Even one is too much.

So let's think about some of the less obvious ones. Sippy cups and bottles. Whoa. This is gonna get deep fast!

When my youngest was still of the cooing, bottle age I had a lot of bottles. And I mean a lot. Being as thrifty (okay, cheap) as I am, I hit every garage sale in our 'hood the summer before she arrived. And at each one I bought bottles; but really for pennies on the dollar who could pass them up?! I boiled them several times and bought all new nipples. By the time fall rolled around I had a brand-new baby and seriously 40+ bottles. I thought I was set.

Secrets of Sanity

I hear it a lot; people ask me how I get it all done each day. And I answer them honestly, I don't. Very little in my house is done on a daily basis. Sure there is the obvious like dressing, brushing teeth and eating (lots of eating) but as for the household chores, very few make the cut as a daily chore.

That being said, I should explain that I have sacrificed the glory of the "Everything's Done" moment to fight off the horrors of the "Nothing's Done" moment. I run the house on a weekly basis. But let's start with the daily items.

1. Dishes - and I mean all of them! Whether it means running the dishwasher half-full (ha, yeah right!) or running it twice, at one point during the day I wash every single dirty dish. A little confession here, I leave my supper dishes overnight. Yep, they see the sunrise. But it means that post-dinner I get family time. We play and read books. I share in their giggles instead of overhearing them from my post in the kitchen. But the following morning by 9 there is not a dirty dish to be found not even from that morning's breakfast.