Toys are taking over my life!!!

SAVE ME!

I am over here!  

Under this ginormous pile of unused, unloved, broken, forgotten TOYS!

Ever feel like your kids toys get up in the middle of the night... have naughty relations and *gasp* MULTIPLY!?!

Mine totally do it.  I just know it.  How else could there BE SO MANY of them?  They are TAKING over my life.

So my kids have a play room (LUCKY... said in a Napoleon Dynamite voice)... except when the play room becomes so messy that they can't find the floor let alone that ONE STINKING, teensy, tiny Lego man head that can't be the head from the Star Wars guy, it HAS to be the one that goes with the City guy.  When that happens, the gates of toy hell open up and start to swallow me and our house WHOLE.

The toys migrate too.  Did you know they can do that in the middle of the night too?  They march down the stairs... because both my kids SWEAR they did not bring them down... then they set up camp on my kitchen floor, my washing machine, around my bathroom sink, in between couch cushions... and then... the audacity... those ones MULTIPLY in my kid's rooms too.  Ahhhhhhhhh!!!

How do I make the madness stop?!  A couple of times a year I do a big clean out and reorganization, but even though my boys promise to keep it that way, it is only a matter of a few days before I hear every single bin upstairs being dumped on the floor (parents.... you know that sound, it's like nails on a chalkboard).  I cringe just thinking of that sound that is still echoing in my head from three days ago.

I wish this post was about how amazingly organized I was and that my kids helped keep my house in pristine, white-glove clean condition.  It's not.  It's just a lonely rant.... looking for some love and support. LOL.

You hear me.  You get what I am putting out there.  Tell me I'm not alone!?

SO I am going to take a stand.  I am going to fight the good fight.  Next week while the boys are at school.... the big giant black garbage bags with Force-Flex are coming out of their huge Sam's Club box.  I am going to try and donate as much as I can and try to piece as many toys back together as I can, but I am thinking there are going to be about 3 bags of GARBAGE leaving this house next week.  I don't really want to do it... because let's be honest, it is a LOT of work.  My friend reminded me just this evening that we both made a pact with each other that next week was THE week.  The week we took our houses back.  I groaned and whined and pouted... "but I don't wannaaaaaaa."  But now I am writing it here.  For accountability. 

Hi, my name is Joslin and my house is a war zone of toys.  And next week, I go to battle with all the stuff my kids don't REALLY play with anymore.  Who is with me?

You know that quote... something about it's not a mess it's my kids just making memories... yeah, this is what I think of that....

Ok, ok... before you all start thinking I'm just over here complaining and being a horrible mom who throws her kid's favorite toys away... in all seriousness, it is time to reorganize.

So, now that my rant is over, do you have a method to your organizing process?  I do this every year, around this time of the year and I always make myself believe it is going to be the death of me.  But it never kills me and I get through it one day at a time, and the end result is very soothing.  When my rooms and closets are organized, my brain seems more organized.  So here are my tips to (re)organizing your house:

1. Get a bottle or two of your favorite wine... you will need it later.
2. Pick a WEEK to get this done (for an average sized home).
3. Designate each day to a different area of your house.  For example:
• Monday is for master bedroom; dresser/closet/nightstand/etc. Then have a glass of wine.
• Tuesday for bathroom closets and cabinets. Then have a glass of wine.
• Wednesday Kid's rooms (or if you don't have kids, kitchen/laundry room). Then have a glass of wine.
• Thursday-Friday TOY ROOM (if you don't have a toy room make this your home office day, or garage organizing day) Finish bottle one of wine, and make a significant dent on bottle two.
• Saturday any other areas you have that aren't listed.  Finish bottle two of wine.
• Even if some of these tasks only take you an hour, DON'T move on to the next day's job... trust me, it will make you crazy... one day at a time!
4. Donate anything you have found that is still is good/working condition, or plan a garage sale (ugh).
5. When the hellish week is over, you will feel renewed and refreshed and probably a little dehydrated from all that wine... so fill up on water too! ;-)

Ok, that is all.  Sorry (not sorry) about this rant. I hope if anything you got a good laugh out of my own miserable disorganization of my house.  I promise my next handful of posts will be fitness or nutrition related... because well that's what I do.  Wife, mom, cook, coach. :)

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by ~ Joslin