A Real Mom's Declutter/House Cleaning Challenge!!! - Page 3

[Renaissancemom31]

Mission Impossible - Accomplished!!!

The boys room is empty!!!!

: :

It's taken ALL day but there's nothing left in their room but the bunks, the dresser, the tv (nowhere else to put it), and a couple of board games (I'd feel too guilty taking it ALL).
Their clothes are all sorted and stacked in the kitchen. TOmorrow I will go through and set out their winter wardrobe and it'll be done.

I'm sooooo excited!!!!

[Free Thinker]

WOW You guys are making me feel lazy! I cleaned out the make-up in my bathroom, and that's it. Now, I did have a sick kid one Friday night, so I only got about 2 hours of sleep. I am hoping to jump back on things this week. Last week I was gone so much, I hardly had time to start any projects. I did get our beef on Friday, though! I had to clean out the deep freeze, and packed about 500lbs of meat in there! We are all set for winter, now.

[SlingWearin'Mama]

Room for one more?

Okay I'd love to join too! We are getting our house ready to sell and put on the market on Wednesday, eeks! It was a recent decision and I feel so behind and overwhelmed so maybe if I list a few things to do I will feel better and motivated to do them.

Tonight:
Clean downstairs bathroom
Pack up things in Ava's room
run a load of diapers
get some sleep

Tomorrow:
Finish up outside: sweeping and decorating front proch
pack up and dust family room, living room and dining room.
Get boxes ready for good will
Organize and clean kitchen

Okay let's see how that goes haha!

[Free Thinker]

Welcome, Jenn

Still running behind here, but I did just sell 2 bags of 12 month clothes to a local mom here who is in need. She just came and picked them up. I used the trick kellyb suggested, and yesterday when I saw her I asked if she would like some clothes, and set up a time for her to come and get them. That way I was "forced" to go thru and get them out! I was going to give them to her, but she insisted on paying I guess that $$ will go in my new baby diaper fund Today I am going to try to do a power work day, and get lots of stuff done! On the list for today:

clean up bathroom
kitchen dishes and floor
clean out hall closet

I will start a new thread next week, for November. This is our last week of October, so get working girls!!! Let's see how much we can accomplish!

[KellyB]

Wow!
Congratulations to all of you who are getting things accomplished!
I'm suffering here...I go to bed every night thinking "Tomorrow I'll blablabla.." and just can't seem to make myself do it...
I have a million and one fairly honest excuses, but I know I'm just rationalizing to some extent, at least.
What's wrong with me????
Ugh...ok...baby steps...
Today, as God is my wittness...
I'll at least clean up the baby's room...that way I'll maybe be encouraged to put all the other toys randomly scattered here, there, and yonder in there as well...
That will be something, I guess...better than nothing...???

[Renaissancemom31]

jump start

Here's an idea I've used a couple of times when I was just totally overwhelmed. Have a really good friend help you with a trouble spot. In my case it was the pantry and the boys room. My best friend helped me with the pantry and my brother (who knows what it's like to be a little boy with amessy room who doesn't care) did the boys room.
Another great idea is to just fill your trunk with a load of stuff and take it to the goodwill. If you haven't used it in a year or don't plan to use it in a year - get rid of it. It's brutal at first, but the more stuff you let go of the better you will feel, and the easier the process becomes for you. Soon it's effortless! We don't have much stuff, but every time I go into a room I can find at least one more thing that's just sitting around collecting dust, not bringing joy, taking up space...
I spent a month taking two carloads a week to the good will and/or consignment shop last spring. It has amazed me how much better I can asess my stuff now. Before it was overwhelming, now it's just a part of cleaning the house. I keep a box by the front door and when it's full it goes into the trunk so I can drop it off next time I'm downtown. Big items I try to freecycle before I haul them to town (most will go - i have a woman driving 45 minutes to get a plastic sweater thingy that hangs in the closet and a broken toaster oven). The other night I was in the basement and saw a few things I didn't need so I came up and emailed my freecycle group - half of them are already gone and the other half have been spoken for. If you live on a main road you can just set stuff in the front yard with a free sign on it.

[LambQueen]

If I just got off of MDC I think my house would be a whole lot tidier! At least today I got the vacumming done, and DD wasn't scared of the vacuum cleaner until the very end. She was really interested in the hot air blowing out of it.

Clutter is the bane of my existence! I wish we could get cleaning help, but that will just have to wait for another time.

[tessamami]

Walk through your house as a realtor. . . .

Did I mention that I love Fly Lady? http://flylady.net

One of the things she says is: "You can't organize clutter". What does this mean? You and I have tons of things that we a) don't use b) don't need c) don't know what it is d) feel guilty about having / throwing away e) etc.

What's the solution? Simple: "27 fling boogies". That means going through the house, throwing 27 things away at a time - then repeating the 27 fling by putting 27 things to give away . . . . and then get this: getting rid of it ASAP. That's it - that's the secret . . . .and there are more. . . .but it started right there for me. . . .and if you are anything like me, you've got too much stuff too. . .leading to CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome). There is a way out! http://flylady.net