Chaos, Clutter, and Cleanliness

Getting organized again was one of my biggest challenges and something I am constantly trying to achieve.  When I started parenting my young grandchildren 8 years ago it was like having triplets in the house only I did not have a chance to get used to them gradually as most parents do, I got them all at once plus a brother only 2 years older. They were not triplets but other than the oldest none of the rest of them had even a full 15 months between them.  They thought like twins and triplets anyone who has been a parent of multiples can understand this I am sure.  While I was cleaning up one mess there was usually another being made and another I am sure being planned.

Nothing that is marked childproof works with multiples the reason for this is each are thinking with different parts of their brain at all times.  I did not realize this at first of course. My husband and I went through 3 different childproof gates each more complex than the last and of course more expensive. Each time scratching our heads when in a matter of 1 or 2 days they would figure a way out, around over or through it.  We even on several occasions talked about contacting childproofing companies to see if they wanted to hire the children to work for them said if they could make it safe for our grandkids Houdini couldn’t escape it.  Toys were the same thing they could break anything or take it apart and they were just 1, 2, 3 and 5. They are now 9, 10, 11 and 13. They are living with their mom again now. I currently only have a 5 year old in the house and her 37 year old father.

Mating socks was a challenge having this many children, I have always hated mating socks. But then I had an epiphany I decided to color code. I had 3 boys and 1 girl, I went to Target ß-my favorite store and surveyed the sock selection. The oldest boy was in school and needed both black and white socks but I was able to get them in the same style I got 9 pairs of each for him. For the two youngest I got two different color bottoms they were basically white socks with colored bottoms making them easy to match.  For my granddaughter it was easy she loves pink so she got white socks with pink bottoms. Sock mating was now a piece of cake so easy now the 2 and 3 year old could do it for me. Children from the ages of 2-5 love to be helpful and this is a safe job for them to do without much supervision required.

About a year into my adventure a friend of mine introduced me to a website that over the years has helped me take better control of my situation.  The basic concepts are talked about in many self-help home organization books and I am not saying you can’t get this help from any number of the others that are out there. I am just saying this one appealed to me and my way of being able to control the instant chaos that had seemed to have descended upon my household. The website can be found here --> FLYLADY   it is run by Marla Cilley she has found a way to attract over 40 thousand followers. It is a fairly simple concept which can be adjusted to suit almost anyone’s schedule. There is also a list of S.H.E* books written by both herself and others as well as other helpful Ideas, gadgets and gizmos to help you get organized. The bottom line is your house did not get messy overnight it isn’t going to get clean overnight. Also you can do anything for 15 minutes, or if need be adjust your time and do it for 10 minutes, whatever it takes.  Even doing a quick clean-up for 10 minutes non-stop in one room 5 or 6 times a day gives you about an hour’s worth of stress free cleaning time. On her website she talks about hotspot fire drills and 5 minute room rescues but my absolute favorite would have to be Swish and Swipe. With 3 of the little angels being boy’s and boys of course standing up in the bathroom to do their business;  A bathroom can get stinky really quick if you do not stay on it regularly. Who here likes to clean bathrooms? Not Me!  Well with the daily swish and swipe the task becomes a lot less daunting simply because you are basically giving your bathroom a wipe down every day and it is always smelling fresh at least as fresh as a bathroom can be at any given moment.  If you decide to sign up for the website then happy flying it isn’t necessary to sign up to gain the helpful hints which are offered there.  The emails can become overwhelming but there are ways to manage those as well. I just know it helped me to bring my somewhat chaotic suddenly child filled again world back into focus so that my house isn’t always topsy-turvy.  However I am happy my daughter now has the CHAOS** back in her house…LOL

* Sidetracked Home Executives

** Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome