We actually have a separate living room and play room, but for this task, I am focusing solely on the living room. We do keep some toys in there as well to keep the baby occupied.
I don’t know about you, but cleaning is not something that I enjoy. To be honest, I think it kind of sucks! Most times, I just let everything accumulate until I can’t take it anymore. And the dust. Seriously….so.much.dust. I swear if I were up for it I would have to dust every.single.day just to keep up with it. But I’m not up for it and I don’t dust everyday.
My kids are six, three-and-a-half, and fifteen-months. Since day one, I’ve always been the one to clean up after them. Sometimes the two older ones volunteer to help me with dusting and picking up. When they do, I’ve always been ungrateful because it wasn’t done the way I want it done so I’ve always thought it’s just easier to do it myself. Which, in turn, has made me so overwhelmed. I’ve never actually taken the time to teach them how to pick up/clean up after themselves. I guess I just thought they should already know that. We’ve tried instituting rules but we aren’t very consistent and the kids know that. It is something we have started working on as I don’t want my kids to grow up feeling entitled. Entitled to not have to do anything for themselves ever. It drives me crazy! I was never raised like that and I definitely don’t want my kids to be either.
Anyways, onto my living room. The before pictures actually aren’t horribly cluttered, but it still was driving me crazy. Maybe it was all the dust! School was not in session on Monday for Martin Luther King Day so my oldest was surprisingly very willing to help me clean. We worked on both the bathroom and the living room area. Here is the before:
I should have taken a close-up of the dust, but completely spaced it. Here is the after:
The pictures were taken Monday and every evening since, it’s looked very similar. We’ve all been making an effort to pick up the clutter and put it where it belongs. Well, all of us except Mr. Chaotic. That’s a whole ‘nother story though.
How did you do this week with the organizing revolution? Leave me a link to your blog so I can check out your organized space! Don’t forget to head on over to vote for me!
I have a five year old, a 3 1/3 year old and a one year old and know chaos as well. It's hard to teach kids to cleanup after themselves when we do it for them. I feel that pain too! We've worked hard this week putting stuff away at the end of the day.
ReplyDeleteFunny how clutter makes moms crazy! Good job.
Nice job! It's on ongoing job, a life-long process. Keep up the good work!
ReplyDelete