Wednesday, April 17, 2013

How to Find Happiness A-Z: O

Are you the creative type who places your shoes where your hat should go, and your car keys where your cup usually sits?

I've always had a special way of arranging things. When I was a teen Mom used to come into my room, see my papers piled all over the floor, and start throwing things away. Eek! Those were my precious stories, notes, and idea prompt images! For years, I couldn't understand WHY she would do that. Didn't she get she was destroying my sense of order?

Now, many years later and as a mom, I get it.

Organization.


Picture courtesy of Carnivore Locavore
We can function with chaos in our home (empty milk jugs piled to go out for recycling, markers and pens scattered across the school table, scraps of paper from recent project littered across the floor, laundry piled in baskets in the corner), but I find my sense of cool goes "poof". I snap at the kids more. I freak out about the little things. I feel like a failure and start panicking about how behind I am.

Conversely, when my house is spotless, I'm an angel, the kids love each other, and we all breathe easy.

Have you had similar experiences? How do you establish order in your house?  

18 comments:

  1. I feel the same way! And I throw my kids stuff away too. Hopefully someday they will understand too! But they're all boys, so probably not. ;)

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    1. I don't know that my brothers minded too much when Mom cleaned their rooms. ;)

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  2. Organization keeps me sane. Excellent choice for "o".

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    1. Sane. What is that? I hear whisperings of this mystical and wondrous thing...

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  3. Hi, great O. I need more organization. I stay behind. I need to organize so I can work on my book! But I am so busy blogging. Maybe May will be a great month for my book.

    On another note. Please read my blog today about Martin. I have a special request. Hope you will help.
    http://mary-anderingcreatively.blogspot.com/

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    1. Mary, I'm hoping the same for my May. This April crazy is quite the commitment, eh?

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  4. Organizing one's home is indeed a daunting task. I don't have kids myself, but the husband often drives me crazy with his things-lying-about tricks!!

    A lovely read.

    ~B

    http://barnalisahabanerjee.blogspot.in/

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    1. LOL. I'll have to remember that--it's just a trick. All that mess, just a trick. =P

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  5. I could definitely organize more, but I find that if I'm too organized, I go a little OCD. I'm a bit more of seat of my pants kind of person, so keeping things organized is pretty hard for me.

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    1. AMEN! (Um, my kids didn't read that, right?) Creativity works well with partial organization, methinks.

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  6. I opened your post just after I'd taken a break from organizing STUFF (yipes, stuff!) as we're preparing to move to North Carolina. Normally I'm pretty organized, not a pack rat (hub is, yipes!) but am still kicking myself for keeping a bit too much STUFF. I did last year's Challenge and caught my tail coming and going, LOL!

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    1. =) Yipes! Beware the stuff. It has a nasty kick. LOL! Here's wishing you much sanity while sorting and preparing for the move.

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  7. Definitely! In fact I spent all morning yesterday tidying up the house we are renovating, just so we could find things again! I am an organizing freak. My daughter says I am OCD, but I prefer to think of it as very particular. :)

    Happy O day!
    tm

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    1. Oooh, come visit? I'll give you a free Collier hotel stay only a measly 30 minutes north of Disney World. *batting eyes*

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  8. I have absolutely found that when my home is clean and orderly, there is a peace that prevails, whereas chaos feeds chaos. Funny how we don't see it when we are younger, hu? Funny how a clean area can have such an influence on how we act. As they say, "A house of order, a house of God."

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    1. And it's true, but I tell you what, that clean house is so much easier to maintain when there aren't 10 hands constantly rearranging it. Ah, each season has it's joys, right?

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  9. I have OCD = obsessive cleaning disorder. I breathe easy feeling caught up on housework.I may be weird lol.

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    1. Weird, but awesome. See, now I really need to have you over for the weekend. ;D (But especially if you bring some of that goat cheese. Mmmm.)

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Hit me with your cheese!