Tackle Your Mountain of Stuff

I am a preschool teacher by profession. It is the best job and I love doing it. The only problem with being a preschool teacher is that you become a bit or a hoarder.  You never know when you could use some odds and ends in an activity.

Recently I held a little preschool class in my home for my son and a few friends’ children. It was tons of fun teaching in my home and being able to facilitate my sons learning and social skills.

After a few months of preschool, my living room transformed into more of a storage room. The corners all had piles of my things. The shelves had large stacks of leftovers I promised myself someday I would reorganize. The only time I ever did anything with the piles, was when one of my children got into or knocked one over. (And of course, I spoke to my children, pilfering through my things, in a sweet-happy voice. No need to be upset after the fifth time they dumped over all the puzzles today.)

The walls were covered in bright letters, numbers and painting made by kids. It was nice for a preschool, but it was very over stimulating for me during the times I wanted to relax.

This weekend I knew it was time to tackle my preschool mountain. First thing I had to do was make room to store the things I was keeping. I also gave away lots of things that were too good to throw away, but I did not want to keep. That made me feel better than just chucking things I loved and had made by hand. Then I began sorting and boxing up everything.

I got rid of one of the shelves that could collect toys and junk, plus boxing up and throwing away toys that needed to be relocated. When I was done, my living room looked more like a living room. One shelf with only one shelf worth of toys. One bin of crafty things I could still use with my kids, and a few bright pictures to make it feel a little childish.

                            The fish poster was completely covered a few days ago. Hi fish!

I know sometimes your ‘mountains’ feel insurmountable. You don’t have time. It’s too big and will take too long. I get it.

I am not saying my house is ever clean. My floors are more often are crumb covered than not. My kitchen is usually dirty. My living room always needs a quick clean up before I open the door. My mirrors area always covered in finger and face prints. Now though, all those daily chores are more manageable because that is all there is to do. I don’t have to beat myself up about, “Oh, someday I really have to clean out this or that. I have to go through this and dejunk that.”.

The choice is up to you. Live in a house or make it your home. If you can carve out a little time every week to care about yourself enough to deep clean. You soon will have an environment that calms and heals you instead of adding to your problems.