Saturday, June 13, 2009

Keeping it under wraps

As a mother of three young children, you never know what crazy and creative thing they are going to try to pull next. The other day, my youngest daughter pulled a stunt that I had to share with you:


Our next door neighbor’s cat has had kittens and they are old enough now to be walking around and exploring the yard. I caught my daughter pulling on the small, defenseless cats through the chain link fence onto our side of the yard so she could play with it. I immediately explained to her that they are not our kittens and we can’t just take them to our home.


Unfortunately, I could not explain the same thing to the small kitten who knows has learned it can fit through the fence and believes that the grass must somehow be greener on the other side so it refuses to stay on its side of the fence now. This of course delights my daughter to no end, though it makes my husband upset. He is not a cat person and terribly allergic to them.


I told Bella, my daughter, that it was time to go inside and leave the cat outside. I turned around to pick something up and when I looked at her again there was a wiggly bump moving under her dress. Every step that Bella took towards the door she would say, “Ouch” or “Eww” or “Stop”. I tried hard not to laugh… but it was just too funny. She was enduring pain so she could try to sneak her new friend into the house in a way she was sure was unnoticeable. It wasn’t until I finally asked her, “Bella, where is the cat?” When she lifted up her hands to tell me that she did not know, the kitten came tumbling out from under her dress.


The whole scene made me think about how many of us do the same thing with our clutter. We shove it into drawers, cabinets, closets, and under beds in hopes that no one will notice or see it. We tolerate the uncomfortableness that it inflicts on our daily life because it is easier than dealing with it… or so we think.



Having to dig through countless drawers to find a single piece of paper is painful and a huge waste of time. Having to search through piles and piles of clothes to find the exact shirt that you know you bought last week to wear with your new jeans is frustrating and again… a waste of time.


Just like with my daughter and the cat, it wasn’t going to stay under that dress. One way or another it was going to find a way out of there. It would have either continued to scratch and claw until it was released or take the first escape it had when Bella moved her arms. It is the same thing with our clutter… at some point there will be a breaking point.


It could be when you open a closet and find yourself on the receiving end of an avalanche of clothing and clutter. It could be when you search and search to find something that you are positive you put in a safe place but now simply can’t find that safe place again. For many of us we wait for that breaking point… but why? Why not take an honest look at the clutter that we are trying to keep undercover now and deal with it before it causes us anymore pain and frustration.


If you have clutter and no idea where to begin in dealing with it I encourage you to visit our website at http://www.simpleorganizedsanity.com/ for more information about how we can help you win the battle once and for all!

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