Decluttering

I shared this picture on Facebook the other day. It got some laughs and I got some wonderful support from other Mom's who have been there, done that or doing that with the parenting thing. But that wasn't why I shared it. I shared it because I love irony and that is what the picture represented to me. I didn't place the "1,001 Timely Tips for Clutter Control" book there just to snap the picture, that is where I laid it after reading some of the tips before bed one night. I won't say when that was because it will be evident that I obviously haven't been very timely about using said tips.

I took advantage of a snow day today and tried to put Fly Lady's fifteen minutes to good use on several of my personal Hot Spots. My night stand is one of them. I cleared it in less than the allotted fifteen minutes, dusted it, and snapped a picture for good measure. But then I got to thinking about how that nightstand clutter really had a lot to say about me and my life right now.

Primarly the clutter on the nightstand was my first love, books. Any book, doesn't matter, I love them. I sneak in time with books after my motherly, wifely and household duties are done. That means the few minutes before I fall asleep every night, thus the pile on the nightstand.

Tonight I took a closer look at the picture...there are two self-help books, one on mothering and one on decluttering. There are two children books because I try to read to Kaelyn every night before she goes to sleep. The Vampire Diaries is there, for pure pleasure. My Bible is in the plaid covering, for when all the self-help books just aren't cutting it. There is a devotional book for understanding God's purpose in my life. There is a fiction book about a Deaf family because I am trying to learn about Deaf Culture.

And that is just a small representation of the million and one ways that I am pulled every day. No wonder my house is cluttered, my insides are all cluttered.

(The rest of the clutter is an art project the girls were working on, some mail, and a few stray socks waiting for their match to come through the dryer.)

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