How do you start an organization project? It may be a bookshelf or a room or even a whole house. I've done a lot of organizing in the past, and from those of you who have seen my house, you know that being organized borders on an obsession and is an integral part of my life.
I've been organizing things since I was old enough to organize a single drawer for my mother. I'd be in her way, underfoot and a general bother and she'd come up with something for me to do that would occupy my time as well as be a help to her. My mother was smart.
The best way to do any organization project is not unlike sweeping. You don't sweep a little in one corner and then some in the middle of the room and then a bit over on the far edge; it would be and you'd end up going over the same areas more than once to get the job done well.
When you sweep, you start in the corner, and you sweep across the room towards a final, single destination. Then you have all the dust and dirt in one place and you can deal with it at one time.
Organization is much the same. In any good organization job, you'll find things that are in locations they shouldn't be. They need to go somewhere. The best place for them to go is away from the current spot you're organizing. For instance, say you're organizing your clothes closet and you find picture frames and holiday gifts. Do they make sense in your closet? That depends. If you have designated your closet as the location for frames and holiday gifts, then yes. Otherwise, they need to go somewhere else.
That somewhere else can be a lot like the corner of the room you're sweeping towards. The spare room or the attic or another closet you've marked to be organized later. As you work your way through the room or house even, you may find more picture frames and holiday gifts. Now they've been put in a location for currently homeless things. At some point, you'll get to organizing the homeless location. Or, you may find when you go through the guest room that the closet there is the perfect location for holiday gifts and consolidate everything in that one place.
And just like you sometimes sweep very well, making sure every corner and cranny has been expunged of all motes and granules of dust and dirt, sometimes you'll do a more thorough organization job. But the process is much the same; clear out any items that shouldn't be in the location and then organize what's left.
The Big Boy Update: The Boy Who Cried Potty. That's what my husband has renamed him. Because he loves to say, "potty" and "poop" and "pee." He likes being on the potty. but he hates going there. This morning he was in his crib saying, "potty" and my husband even brought the potty up from downstairs to give it a go. But no go. On other word and behavior fronts. He said, we think, "diaper" twice last night. But if pressed for what that thing is, he'll still say, "bah-poo." And weeding! His Nana taught him how to weed the other day in the yard. She showed him how to pick weeds and then throw them into the rough areas. Today at his, "park" he went over to some weeds in the grass, said, "weed," pulled them up and threw it into the bushes.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Trounced. She is getting trounced on by her brother. It's sometimes intentional by him and sometimes not. Not surprisingly, she is not fond of it. But she wants to be where he is and he wants to move around quickly. She's also standing with one hand a lot and looking at bridging distances. She's doing a little cruising, but not as much as I bet she'll be doing soon.
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