Operation "Get-My-Life-Under-Control"

I grew up in a chaotic household.  My mom was always going in 100 different directions, with 100 different projects and responsibilities all in various stages of completion.  In her defense, much of it was her coping mechanism...how she dealt with the emotional chaos that existed at that time in our lives.

When I moved out and was on my own, I did well at keeping things relatively organized.  When Steve and I got married, and it was just the two of us, it wasn't too tough to pick up after ourselves. It was apparent early on that he did not do well in a chaotic environment, so I have done my best over the years to try and keep our house organized, at least the visible parts.

With three growing kids, my life is becoming increasingly chaotic.  I'm torn between wanting to give my kids experiences and opportunities for growth, and needing down time at home.  I volunteer at their school - something I feel is important for me to do right now.  I have responsibilities at church.  I have all the responsibilities that come with maintaining and nurturing a household of 5 people.  And I have dreams of my own, waiting to be pursued.

I have various places that are my "stuffing" grounds. Places that I stick things that I don't know what to do with, or don't have time to deal with right at the moment. I always tell myself that I'll go back and put it away, or find a "home" for it, and won't let it pile up. That doesn't always happen.

In order for me to feel okay about spending time on myself, on my own interests, I feel like I first need to make it a priority to establish a little more order in the house.  Today, I tackled a "stuffing ground" that has been piling up for months.

We have a little closet in our downstairs bathroom, which houses our file cabinets, along with towels, the vacuum, mop, and various other household items (including 50 pounds of food storage wheat that doesn't fit anywhere else!).  For the past several months, every time I pay bills, review bank statements, etc., I have been piling it on to the filing cabinet, or shoving it in the closet.  

This afternoon, I turned on a movie for the boys and dug in.  It didn't really take that long to get it all filed and straightened up.  I finished before the movie was over.  And yet it has felt like such a burden for so long...

Now my task is to keep it looking this way.  If I file the papers as they come, they don't pile up.  A few minutes on a daily basis to maintain order is far better than hours of creating it.  Sounds easy, doesn't it?  Now let's see if I can stick to it!