Getting Ready

We have been VERY busy here at the Campbell house. My husband has been doing physical therapy for a knee injury he got several months ago, requiring surgery. His being injured has left me with a lot of extra work to do. My kids all do their chores, but I am purging the house of un-needed items and deep cleaning.

With our E-School ready to start in a couple weeks, I am getting our school room ready not only for a 5th and 6th grader, but also for a kindergartener, and of course the younger boys will sit in and participate in our class studies as always. We rotate out old books for new ones, clean old papers out and shred them and keep the shredded paper for our "class pet" the hamster. We dust down and clean all the equipment, and decorate it to be welcoming on those first relaxed days of school.

But, I have also been cleaning and purging other rooms in the house, slowly and steadily. Pairing down clothes, bedding, toys, recipe books. You name it, its getting downsized. I have this idea that I want my home to be a calm (as calm as a house with 6 kids can be), almost self efficient place. I want to have everything to have a place, (and no, junk drawers don't count as a place).

I remember when we first purchased our house very clearly. We went from a small place, to a two story house. I remember having barely anything to fill it. So I did what anyone would do, and filled it with nik-naks, furniture, and all sorts of things I thought we needed at the time. Now as our house has grown I know that simplicity is the key to my survival and sanity. I don't want those piles of laundry that I face almost daily. I don't want to have piles of dishes, totes, toys and nonsense. So I purge. It makes me feel all giddy when I see the finished work of a neatly organized room. I am not an organized person by nature. I have to struggle to make myself get jobs done.

I strongly suggest that if you are struggling to keep a your sanity over the piles of chores on your list, PURGE. It's another chore by its self, but a greatly rewarding one. The feeling of being clutter free is amazing. Pick one room at a times and just go with it.