This is a guest post by Naomi, from the blog Seven Cherubs.
Often I have people come to my house who are totally shocked that nine people live here. Not too many people say it, but some people.
They are amazed at how organised it is.
Notice I did not say how ‘clean’ it is.
A house needs to be ‘lived’ in and children make mess, it is part of family life and mothering.
I am referring to being organised.
I thought I would let you in on one of my secrets of having a house of order:
I simply call it A bag a day.
I am really good at getting rid of stuff.
In our house we are really good at acquiring stuff.
We collect school notes, toys, hand me down clothes, paperwork, leftover food scraps that can be found in all sorts of places, broken toys, empty boxes, books, linen and plastic containers.
For these item’s my rule is: if I haven’t touched it for a while – it goes!
That means that if I haven’t touched it, picked it up, moved it then no-one else has either.
If it is still in it’s original place after several months then it simply does not get used.
To help create a house of order, every day I place an empty plastic shopping bag on the kitchen counter and I fill it up. I either fill it up with items to give away or with items to throw away.
This keeps our home clutter free and keeps me focused on having order.
When I feel that clutter is taking us over on a larger scale, I have a massive discard day.
I had one last week.
I threw out 6 bags of items and dropped off another 5 bags of items to the second hand stores.
I felt relieved. It clears my mind, gives me more space and less work and worry.
We really do not need as many things we think we do.
I have many bodies in my home and other ‘stuff’ just gets in the way.
It drives me crazy to constantly be tripping over stuff, to have items falling out of cupboards and no space on my benches. It clutters my life and my mind.
For me, one plastic bag a day is a really simple way to keep up with simplifying my home and to bring me some peace of mind.
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About Guest Blogger
Seven Cherubs is a blog about how Naomi is learning to create an environment of happiness in her home as she raises her seven cherubs. Her aim is to uplift and encourage mothers to find happiness in their parenting.
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This post was written by a guest contributor. If you are interested in ‘being my guest’ please visit Be my Guest page for more details.
