Clean Sweep

Have you ever seen that show? When we had TV, I loved it. The premise is simple... people with a ton 'o' "s-crap" get attacked by a crew of organizers who take all the stuff out of their "s-crap-filled" rooms and assist them in sorting and organizing. It's a dream come true!

Unfortunately (or fortunately) we do not have one room that is in such disarray that the Clean Sweep folks would find it TV-worthy. So I'm left to try to tackle the organizing and sorting on my own.

Another room down! Yesterday I spent the entire morning in the kids' playroom... four grocery bags full of trash and two Hefty bags full of Goodwill stuff later, the task is done. It was amazing the amount of STUFF my kids -- and my six-year-old in particular -- had managed to pack into that little space.

Papers. Tons of papers. And craft materials. And pens. And pencils. And crayons. And all those little junk toys they get from treat bags and school bday parties and the like. (For a better solution for treat bags, check out this post from my pal Aby, queen of organizing!).

It's funny because even though as a child I was quite a neatnik, as I've grown older I've become less organized (blame it on the kids). My daughter is a total pack rat (I found gravel and ROCKS in one of her backpacks) but I still can relate to her tendency to collect. Pretty much everything in that room that I tossed, I could see how it was valuable in her eyes. The game pieces from unknown games had potential in a future art project. The small scraps of colored paper could become a mosaic. And on and on. In a way, it was hard to toss 'em. In another way, I was happy to rid the house of them.

Why is it so much easier to sort through other people's stuff? Although I could relate to her desire to keep the items, it was very simple to say, "too much paper. Too many notebooks. Too much STUFF," and then toss them.

I wish I could turn the same objective eye on my stuff. That's what the whole "enough" theme is about this year -- recognizing when I've reached that elusive spot. Enough art materials. Enough patterned paper. Enough foam stamps. ENOUGH.

My hope is by asking the question again and again I will be better able to find that spot in the future.

In the meantime, anyone want to come help me go through my closet??

Comments

[Robyn]

I love clean sweep! I watch it at 1pm weekdays when feeding Sean in our den (the couch has become my new living quarters!)

And I wish I lived closer to you!

[Ramona]

I think there is a similar show on German tv, but since I hardly have time to watch, I could be mistaken... What you write about getting rid of other people's stuff, is so true. I have hardly any bad feelings cleaning my children's rooms, but when it comes to my own belongings, I feel sooo bad kicking anything out. I hang on to many things. My friends usually refer to me as the one who can always help, with the crafty, cooking or writing skills (or baby sitting, too) and the one who will always have right at hand anything they might need, no matter what..lol.. I keep the strangest things because one day someone will need exactly this very item. It's a good thing we have a big house and I have my own craft room. But I started getting a little storage space cleared by tossing out the baby/toddler clothes my children have outgrown years ago. I filled 8 (!) big trash bags!!!! Just imagine how many new things I can now keep to fill the emptied shelves...

[Holly of HollYarns]

Oh, I hope that little bit of that book I sent you helps. I know it is helping me to think about what I really need and how to appreciate what I do have.

Thanks for the heart-day card. Everyone who saw it thought you had bought it because it looks so professional!

[maria]

You have inspired me to go through my closets this weekend and do my own version of "clean Sweep." So far I've only made a bigger mess, but thank God this is a 3-day weekend. Hopefully I'll get somewhere! :)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I hope you are having FUN today! :)

[~Kristie]

I LOVE helping people organize. It's so much easier for me to help others than do my own because I'm not emotionally or financially attached to someone else's clutter. Why don't you do my house & I'll do yours?

[Ragan]

I would love to be on that show, simply because I would like them to go and clean things for me. Yeah. Just do it for me and get it over with. Heh heh.