Tidying Up with Me

The weird religious/spiritual parts aside, Marie Kondo is an inspiration. Not because she is a tidying expert or because her *ting* is super cute and kind of infectious, but because she has singlehandedly motivated me to declutter and reorganize my home. If you know me, you'd know that domestic tasks aren't really a strong suit.

Seriously. Binge-watching that Netflix series made me want to jump out of bed at 2:00am (yes, that's when I watch my shows - don't judge) and clean the bathrooms. I wanted to purge old books and put cute boxes in my drawers. I wanted to tackle the junk drawer and all the million kitchen gadgets to reduce redundancy. It actually took an embarrassingly tremendous amount of self-control to keep myself in bed (and to put down the dang phone and go to sleep)!

So anyway, I've been on a mission ever since. Every small, colourful box has become a treasure for the drawers. Every homeless or wayward toy has found itself into a donation bag or a proper home. It literally gave me glee to stop at IKEA on the weekend and pick up magazine boxes, because now the random papers and books I used to have filed along that ledge are at least sorted and organized and much less likely to fall on someone's head as they walk down the stairs.

Our beloved (but broken) shoe wheel is heading to the dump, and we are in process of replacing the "giant wicker shoe baskets" with proper shoe racks.

My bathroom drawers have been purged of the expired make-up and other random samples I've accumulated over the years.

My socks and underwear are now folded into thirds, and I can see everything I own in one glance.

I even managed to force Hubbs to go through his books. Sadly, he has no sense of "joy" and apparently every bloody book he owns still sparks a dopamine rush for him. *insert eye roll* However, I did manage to part ways with a few of my readers.

And while I initially thought it would be super hard to say good-bye to these belongings, it turned out to be much easier than I would have imagined. Once you're in the groove, the feeling of purging kind of snowballs. I did also co-opt Kondo's "thanking" practice for items with some sentimental attachment. I found myself uttering, "Thank you for your service," before tossing said items into the donation bags. It actually helped, psychologically!

Little by little, I'm owning this space that I call home. I'm making it mine, and making it a happy place. Sure, I have a *long* ways to go with the homeschooling area; I have so. much. stuff.  And there are kitchen appliances to tackle. And the garage. But every day of Spring Break is an opportunity, and I, for one, plan to make the most of it! :)

Happy tidying, friends! :)