I made Hannah clean her room. And not just kinda clean her room. We tossed most of it. Really! This was not about baby-steps to decluttering ... this was about conquering the clutter once and for all!
I told her to get her room semi-decent (because I refuse to help if it's an utter disaster - it's too maddening). Well... we were taking care of business semi-nicely until I stepped into her closet which hadn't an inch of walking room and things were stacked... blankets, stuffed animals, clothes everywhere. And I peeked under her bed... ay-ay-ay! I realized instead of tidying her room, she was shoving it all under the bed or behind furniture.
I blew a fuse (unfortunately) and started throwing things into a gynormous pile in her room - of stuff I'm either taking away, throwing away, giving away, etc. I really just threw anything that wasn't put in its place, anything on the floor, and junk in the top of her closet. Conquer we must... no more one-at-a-time sorting for me.
She was sad when I tossed her pile of favorite clothes (that she had sorted for school) ... but it sat on a chair for 2 days even after I asked her to tidy all the clothes in her room. Lots of tears were shed when she realized I was piling stuff up for reals. We bagged up stuffed animals. We bagged up the clothes that were strewn about her room. We piled up all the blankets that made it to her closet.
Before anyone feels too sorry for the gal, no worries - she is okay. When all was said and done (meaning all the junk/stuff was out in the playroom instead of in her room), she gave a big sigh of relief and said, "Now I won't feel scared in my room anymore." Huh?? Not sure if walking around was dangerous with toys all about, or if her space finally had a positive energy thing going on now (the whole feng shui thing)... really a Holy Ghost presence, I'm sure..., but she was delighted. She showed off her room to dad and Abe. She spent time in there... reading on her bed.
These 'before' photos were actually the 'during' since this was the huge pile i gathered from the closet, under the bed, etc. One would have never suspected that so much could hide in a little girl's room.
Oh - and she totally hugged me so hard and said I was the best mom when we were all through. Huh? She said she finally knows what it's like to work all day like a mom does (since she worked hard for like 2 hours, I guess). She thanked me for taking everything away. I was a bit surprised seeing as I was VERY hard on the poor girl. I don't think I've blown a fuse that bad with the kids. Oops!
As for the stuff she really does need, that I took away (such as clothes), she can earn those back. As she keeps her room as tidy as it is now (seeing as there is nothing in there), she can earn back an item or 2 each day. Hopefully this will spark a new clean for her. A place where she can actually feel at peace and relax.
The plan for the future: seriously assess needs before making purchases... such as school clothes or small toys. I'm going to try what some friends did and purchase outfits... like for each day of the week, so she doesn't have a bunch of completely random clothes that go with nothing (uhhh... like my closet!).
We also put 2 bins in her closet. One for clothes that are too small and one for stuff to give away. If she doesn't know where something belongs, that's a good sign that she doesn't really need it and then we can sort through that stuff for D.I.
I still have loads of work to go through her stuff sitting in the playroom and decide what to do with it (that is the very hardest part for me. I can hardly stand it!). I kept putting that pressure on her, and I realized that her 7-year-old self didn't know how to handle it all. She is also phasing out of the toy mode and so this was a good time to remove little kid stuff. Books are way easier that a million tiny toys to stack.
anyhoo... why is it that most people throughout time have had nothing... and in this society we have to force ourselves to declutter all our stuff? We have to force ourselves not to buy, buy, buy. I'm thinking frugal minimalist needs to become entrenched in my soul. I seem to live in scarcity mode... "well, we can't buy it again and we might need it someday." Plus, I'm sentimental about things. sigh...
One thing is for certain... as grueling and arduous a task it was to conquer Hannah's room, there is a breath of fresh air coming from that area of the house. It lightens the space and feeling up there. Our entire house needs that. Not that we have junk all over the floor everywhere, but we have lots stored in bins and closets that needs to be given away or thrown away.
Operation home clean-up... here I come!
2 comments:
keep the home clean-up posts coming. they are inspiring!
I love the transformation!
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