nesting

When I was a kid, my mom would lock us in our rooms with two large trash bags.  In her own unique, albeit highly effective, way of limiting the piles of junk build-up in our bedrooms, we were told that we were not to come out until we had filled one bag with trash and one bag with items to donate.  It worked.  And apparently, it stuck.

I think the reality of our referral has really set in, and I have settled into a crazy state of nesting.  This weekend, I channeled my inner child-locked-in-a-bedroom-with-Hefty-bags (really, it was not as traumatic or as dysfunctional as it may sound) and went to town.  I unapologetically plopped my kids in front of the TV while I went to work, as trashing things in their presence never goes well.  I just was not in the mood to hear blood-curdling screams of, “NOO!  I love that teeny, broken Happy Meal toy!  It’s my favoriiite!”  It was a good thing, too.  Nothing was safe.  I’m up to two huge trash bags and two bags of items to be donated, and I still have a ways to go.  (Mom, this surely must be your crowning achievement as my mother.  You’re welcome.)

Next up: switching around all of the kids’ rooms.  Because I like to add chaos and change to our pre-existing state of chaos and soon-to-be change.  Does anyone else think Pinterest has sabotaged those of us who may be decorating on a budget/time crunch/creativity crunch?  I think I need to start praying that my kids never discover Pinterest and, therefore, never have the opportunity to question “but mom? why don’t I have an entire wall of Legos in my room like those kids in the picture?  and how bout the for-real treehouse in that room? and the castle with live fire-breathing dragon?  I got gypped!”  I need to cut myself some slack and give myself some grace (and get the heck off of Pinterest)… and be okay with my kids’ mediocre white-walled rooms.

Finally, I think I need to confess my excitement over my newest thrill in life: The List Notebook.  This humble-looking lined notebook was discovered under a bed during the weekend’s cleaning spree, and I knew that I needed it.  Yes, in all of the rubble of trash, I just knew that this notebook was mine.  Mine for list-making.  Lots of lists.  The empty pages just scream “fill me with pages of to-do and to-go and to-buy lists”!  I can’t tell you how happy my little heart was as I filled up the first page yesterday.  It doesn’t take much, friends.  This is the start of a beautiful relationship.  And, yes, I will freely admit that I’m a bit sick.

But if you’ll excuse me, I think there’s more that needs to be thrown away.  Don’t you dare get in the way of my Hefty bags…