Knee Deep in the 3 Cs

For my first "The big kids are back in school" project, I decided (quite foolishly, I might add) to tackle the re-organization of my closet. This is a project 4 years in the making. You see, shortly after we bought this house I came to the realization that my closet needed some serious help. But I kept putting it off and putting it off, until my closet became an endless abyss of clutter, confusion, and chaos. I started keeping my clothes in the laundry room so that I wouldn't have to go into my closet. How sad is that? And it was only after I started this project that I realized that perhaps I should have tackled a much smaller, less challenging project for my first week with the kids back in school. But I didn't pick another project, unfortunately. And once I got started, I had to press on.


I figured a good first step would be to take all of my clothes out of my closet. Mistake! You see, when the clothes were all in the closet, it didn't look so bad. But when the clothes started coming out of the closet, well, I honestly didn't know where on earth I was supposed to put it all. I found myself knee deep in the 3 Cs (clutter, confusion, and chaos). It was only after about my 10th trip out of my closet that I decided to give up. No... I decided to snap this picture below, out of disgust. It was at this moment that I told myself that I was disgusted, and that I regretted every single time I've ever said, "I have nothing to wear." I hope that I NEVER again utter those 5 words.

I have a habit of wearing the same few outfits over and over again until they become rags. I'm not sure why, but I do. I think it's because I'm a creature of habit, and comfort. I find a few outfits that I like, and I stick with them. See that red sweater on the top of the right pile? Beautiful wool sweater. Wool, being the word that needs to be emphasized here. Just Can't Wear Wool! So, why do I keep that beautiful wool sweater? Just in case one day there's a major freeze here and everything else in my closet is dirty and I honestly don't have anything else to wear. That's why! It's the same logic that keeps all the clothes that are too big and too small for me in my closet. I could gain or lose a lot of weight overnight, and would really have nothing to wear if I got rid of all the things that don't fit me right now at this very moment. You know what I'm saying? By the way, all of the arguments that run through my head sound much better when kept in my head and not typed out. Somehow, when they get typed out, they just seem to lose something.

Well, I'm here to tell you all that I am trying to purge my closet of some of the 3 Cs. I'm honestly trying... But it's hard for me. So far, I've taken 6 shirts and a pair of sweat pants off the hangers and put them in the charity pile. Whew! I only hope I can actually make a point to take the clothes to charity before I get nervous and hang them all back up in my closet! Joking!!! Well, maybe.

It is my sincere hope that by this time next week, I will have a picture of my newly re-organized, clean closet to share with you all. I'm going back into the closet now. If I don't come back out by this time next week, please send in a search crew for me.

A Good Idea

When Avery was 3 years old, she went through a phase where she changed her clothes several times a day. She'd get a drop of water on her shirt, and she'd have to change it. She'd decide that the outfit she had on really wasn't what she wanted to wear after all. She'd play dress up then get an entirely new outfit afterwards. She'd throw some of it back into her drawers. Some of it got thrown in the bottom of her closet. Most of it got thrown on the floor. I never knew if the clothes were actually dirty, or if she just got tired of wearing them and they were still clean. So, I came up with the great idea to make Avery start washing all of her own laundry. At first, she thought this was fun. But soon thereafter, the novelty wore off and she realized that washing all her laundry was not fun. Problem solved!


Well this is another one of my better ideas, I must admit, because it truly has worked out great and helped to solve a big problem. Right before Avery started Kindergarten, she and I had a disagreement on what was (and was not) acceptable school attire. In a heated moment, I took all of the clothes out of Avery's closet (which was no easy task), and told her that we were going to stay in her bedroom until we found several outfits that we could both agree upon and be happy with for her to wear to school. And so we set about making "acceptable" school outfits. Everything that Avery and I agreed upon got hung on the top closet bar. Everything that we could not agree upon or that she absolutely could not wear to school but she could wear at home, got hung on the bottom bar. By the way, I bought this closet bar from The Container Store for only $9.99. It basically doubles the amount of hanging space in a closet, and I love it because it's super easy to install and you get twice as much hanging space in a closet in a matter of seconds!


So that day, we made several acceptable school outfits together. And then we agreed that every Sunday afternoon, she would venture into her closet and pick out 5 outfits from the "acceptable" top closet bar for her to wear throughout the following school week.
This worked like a charm! After she would wear an outfit, I would hang it back up as an outfit towards the back of her closet so that we would know she'd already worn it (because wearing a favorite outfit several times in a week was also a big problem we needed to deal with). Every Sunday, she'd pick out another 5 outfits, without any confusion or frustration. It was splendid!


So the week before Avery started 1st grade, I told her what I was about to do (go put together outfits for school), and she got so excited. I love this idea! And I do it for Samuel's clothes too, even though the boy would pretty much wear anything I put in front of him, just as long as he doesn't have to pick it out himself...


Ahhh...

No more morning squabbles about what Avery can and can't wear. No more fumbling around in an unorganized, cluttered closet in the midst of our morning madness, trying to match a pink polka dot shirt that she is absolutely determined to wear, even though the color pink in the shirt is the strangest color pink I've ever seen and I can not possibly match it to anything in her closet. No more morning stress and anxiety centered around clothes. Yea!


This year, I also added a daily organizer hanging shelf. I bought it from Lillian Vernon. It lists the days of the week and has a separate compartment for each day. Avery has P.E. on certain days of the week. I put several dresses and skirts in the daily compartments on days when she does not have P.E., so that there's also no problems with Avery wanting to wear a dress on a P.E. day. Yet another big morning fight over clothes, squashed!


I share this with you all because this has truly set me free! I would have started this when Avery was a preschooler and was first trying to assert her fashion independence, if only I would have thought of it back then. We could have avoided so many morning power struggles this way.

Now, if only I could get my own closet organized!

After School Report

Only good news was reported to me at after school pick-up! Smiles abounded from everyone. Whew! :-) Avery told me that she enjoyed lunch and recess today. Samuel told me that he didn't cry at all, and that he made a new best friend, Joaquin. Excellent!

Seasons in the Sun

Have you ever heard that song, Seasons in the Sun? Well, here's my little version of it.

Sweet Summer, it's time to say goodbye.

Even though the weather is still hot and dry.

They say that fall weather will soon be in the air.

School children are everywhere.

With their new backpacks, lunch boxes, socks and underwear.

We had joy.

We had fun.

We had seasons in the sun.

But the hill we barrel-rolled down has been mowed.

And a new school year has begun...

Despite the fact that the kids wanted the joy, fun, and season in the sun to last and last and last, it has come to an end. This morning went just about as good as it could have. I hardly slept at all last night (or last week, for that matter). I think I finally fell asleep around 1:30 a.m. Then Avery woke me up at 5:13 and asked if she could get ready for school, and told me that the countdown clock was blinking zeros. I told her that was great, but she needed to go back to sleep for another hour, at least. When I did wake up Samuel and Avery, they both started crying before their eyes were even fully open. But they did okay getting ready. We talked about all of the cool, fun new things they would get to experience today, and how I could not wait to hear about their first day after school. We got to school on time, which is quite an accomplishment! When I dropped off Samuel in his classroom, he was on the verge of tears, so we said our goodbyes quickly. It was hard for me to leave as quickly as I did. I wanted to stay, but I knew I couldn't. It was better for Samuel if I left. Avery did great, which was quite a relief given how the first and second days of school went last year. She didn't cry at all. She took her spot right next to her friend Jami Belle and started playing with play-doh. She gave me a kiss and a hug then told me I could leave. Well, okay then... I will leave...

Isaac has wanted my full attention ever since we got home. In the past hour we've played hide and seek, colored, played with chalk on the easel, danced, played hide and seek again, eaten a cereal bar, some Teddy Grahams and a bag of Funyuns (yes, I let him eat chips this early in the day). They just sounded good to me too. :-)

I will try to post an after school update this afternoon. Thank you all for your prayers and support during this time of transition.

Love to you all,

Patty

Ready or Not...

Here they come!

Summer is over... Which means it's time to head back to school!

Last night, we went up to the school for Meet The Teacher night. Avery got the same teacher that Samuel had last year, Mrs. Ehlers. Avery also has one of her best friends in her class, Jami Belle. And yes, we are thrilled! Samuel's teacher's name is Mrs. Friederich. She seems very nice and very organized. Samuel has a few friends in his class this year that he had in his class last year. So, we are also thrilled about that. Pictures will be posted (and tears will flow freely) on Monday morning, so check back then... Say a little prayer for ALL of us!