Confessions of a Disorganized Housewife

   Some houses have that lived in look. Mine has that just moved in look at the moment. You know, boxes everywhere, rooms in disarray. Not very pleasing. We live in a teeny tiny house with little to no storage space and both my husband and I are pack rats. So what do you do when you're tired of moving boxes back and forth from one room to another and the budget is so tight you can't afford a storage rental? 
  A. Move to a bigger place.
  B. Live with it a few months longer until you snap and end up on the 6 o'clock news  as the crazy lady who sneaks into neighbor's houses and leaves stuff.
  C. Throw it all out in one fell swoop and begin again.
  D. Call Clean Sweep or one of those other organizing shows for emergency help.
  E. Take a deep breath, realize this battle can be won, and set to work.
    So how did you answer? If you said E, pat yourself on the back. Let's face it, A isn't gonna happen anytime soon because if the budget won't allow for a storage rental, we're definitely not going to afford a bigger place just yet. That will come in time. B...not very appealing, ya know? So not how I want to be remembered. C sounds great at first, but then there's that pesky budget thing again. D is the same as B. Love to watch those shows (or at least I did when we had cable) but I really don't want to be on television showing my messy ways. Instead, I blog about it, ha ha! 
   I've read books off and on, perused organizing blogs, and read the magazine articles so I know the basics of what needs to be done. Right up front, purge. The first things that need to go are all the excuses as to why I'm so disorganized and the house is suffering from a major case of what Flylady 
calls CHAOS-- Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome. Disclaimer: I am not affiliated in any way with Flylady other than liking her philosophy and trying to follow her schedules.
  I am a perfectionist to some degree. I also learned one thing from my father: If you can't do it right, don't do it at all. Actually, I think I learned that one a little too well. I love my Dad but it's not going to dishonor his memory to say that in a lot of cases he was wrong on that one. Instead of hearing his voice repeat that message over and over, I need to change that message to: It doesn't have to be perfect, it just needs to be done. Later on if its necessary or it's really bugging me I can work on getting something just so. For now though it just needs to get done. This message also works for moments when the excuses are I'm feeling lazy or I'm feeling overwhelmed.
  One other excuse I have is I'll never have a spotless house because my son is working just as hard as I am, only in the direction of keeping the place messy. That one is true, but it can be overcome to some extent. As stated earlier, it doesn't have to be perfect. It just has to get done. That and working harder at training him in what to do and what not to do in the house.  My home will never be a show place, and I can live with that. I can, however, control the chaos somewhat. 
  Okay, so we've established the fact that change must come and we can get this place back in order. Is that it? No. Do I have all the answers? No. But. I do have some tips, and I can share suggestions and point to websites, books, and other helps that may work for you. At least once a week, probably on Mondays, I will post more Confessions of a Disorganized Housewife. I'll share my progress and helpful information. Until next time, have a great day!

   Some houses have that lived in look. Mine has that just moved in look at the moment. You know, boxes everywhere, rooms in disarray. Not very pleasing. We live in a teeny tiny house with little to no storage space and both my husband and I are pack rats. So what do you do when you're tired of moving boxes back and forth from one room to another and the budget is so tight you can't afford a storage rental? 
  A. Move to a bigger place.
  B. Live with it a few months longer until you snap and end up on the 6 o'clock news  as the crazy lady who sneaks into neighbor's houses and leaves stuff.
  C. Throw it all out in one fell swoop and begin again.
  D. Call Clean Sweep or one of those other organizing shows for emergency help.
  E. Take a deep breath, realize this battle can be won, and set to work.
    So how did you answer? If you said E, pat yourself on the back. Let's face it, A isn't gonna happen anytime soon because if the budget won't allow for a storage rental, we're definitely not going to afford a bigger place just yet. That will come in time. B...not very appealing, ya know? So not how I want to be remembered. C sounds great at first, but then there's that pesky budget thing again. D is the same as B. Love to watch those shows (or at least I did when we had cable) but I really don't want to be on television showing my messy ways. Instead, I blog about it, ha ha! 
   I've read books off and on, perused organizing blogs, and read the magazine articles so I know the basics of what needs to be done. Right up front, purge. The first things that need to go are all the excuses as to why I'm so disorganized and the house is suffering from a major case of what Flylady 
calls CHAOS-- Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome. Disclaimer: I am not affiliated in any way with Flylady other than liking her philosophy and trying to follow her schedules.
  I am a perfectionist to some degree. I also learned one thing from my father: If you can't do it right, don't do it at all. Actually, I think I learned that one a little too well. I love my Dad but it's not going to dishonor his memory to say that in a lot of cases he was wrong on that one. Instead of hearing his voice repeat that message over and over, I need to change that message to: It doesn't have to be perfect, it just needs to be done. Later on if its necessary or it's really bugging me I can work on getting something just so. For now though it just needs to get done. This message also works for moments when the excuses are I'm feeling lazy or I'm feeling overwhelmed.
  One other excuse I have is I'll never have a spotless house because my son is working just as hard as I am, only in the direction of keeping the place messy. That one is true, but it can be overcome to some extent. As stated earlier, it doesn't have to be perfect. It just has to get done. That and working harder at training him in what to do and what not to do in the house.  My home will never be a show place, and I can live with that. I can, however, control the chaos somewhat. 
  Okay, so we've established the fact that change must come and we can get this place back in order. Is that it? No. Do I have all the answers? No. But. I do have some tips, and I can share suggestions and point to websites, books, and other helps that may work for you. At least once a week, probably on Mondays, I will post more Confessions of a Disorganized Housewife. I'll share my progress and helpful information. Until next time, have a great day!