About this time each year, just before the panic sets in that I'm not organised for Christmas, I get the urge to have a major clear out. The idea of more things coming into the house at Christmas, especially toys x 6 children, into an already full house becomes overwhelming. I have a few hoarders among the children and so much of the stuff in this house is literally that, just 'stuff''. Some things are precious; special artworks, letters and cards or photo's, but so often we don't appreciate it because it's buried in the quagmire. I have been encouraging the guys to sort out various cupboards the last couple of weeks but it was at the point where they couldn't see the wood for the trees so a more radical approach was required. Justin therefore booked 3 days off work and my parents kindly agreed to have the 5 younger children for the day today. I felt very guilty waving them off but it was necessary because when the children see me coming with the dreaded black sacks every last piece of anything becomes the most precious possession ever owned and no progress can be made.
Naively, I thought that we should be able to clear out the children's 3 bedrooms and the playroom before they came home, but I hadn't reckoned on just how overdue a clear out was. We decided to start with Beth and Orla's room but by lunch, even with 3 black sacks filled plus another for the charity shop, it still looked like a bomb had gone off in there. However we persevered and Justin also put up a few extra shelves which helped clear the decks.
I was really worried about how Beth would take the transformation as she hates throwing anything out but luckily she was delighted by the surprise, especially with the number of things we found that she hadn't seen in a very long time. Orla was very excited to find she had places for her special treasures too.
We feel it's important for the guys to respect and care for their own rooms as well as the shared rooms in the house but we had got to overload and it just wasn't happening with all the clutter. With 6 children and 2 large hairy dogs you cannot be houseproud and we like the place to be lived in, but I also think there needs to be a certain order because you cannot use something you can't find and you can't expect children to learn how to tidy if objects don't have homes. Also for my own sanity, in order to have a sense of calm amid what is usually chaos, I find clear spaces and some semblance of order a big help. I am also blessed to have a husband who is not a clutterbug, only a few children...
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