I'm in Love...

First, with my husband.

This amazing man saw how overwhelmed I was with the upstairs and without saying a word last weekend, he just grabbed garbage bags and called the kids. I followed him up the stairs, curious. Then in two days, he did what I haven't been able to do in two years. Their rooms are CLEAN and ORGANIZED and FREE of junk! He threw things out without a second thought. He worked WITH the kids to come up with ways to organize the things they have and even changed some furniture around in A's room. Now her room makes more SENSE.

I had mixed feelings about all this. I was involved all day Saturday and Sunday with him and the kids worked hard too. This was a family project, but my dear husband was definitely the one in charge of this endeavor. We hauled out SEVEN bags of garbage and I put away many more bags of clothes that they had grown out of. (my son actually had some clothing items in his dresser that were two sizes too small!) Two more bags made it to the garage for a future yard sale. In the end, everyone was happy and the kids had a clean slate to work with for the weeks and months ahead. There is hope!

But... I had mixed feelings about all this. I feel inept. I feel like I'm lacking something basic, something elementary as a Mom because why couldn't I do this? Why did it take years of chaos and overwhelming ridiculousness for me every time I tried to clean their rooms? The last time I attempted a grand clean up, I ended up sobbing when just 24 hours later, they had trashed the upstairs again. It took me a week to get back some kind of order to it all. Then, in two days, my husband flies in (yes, he is a super hero) and makes progress that I didn't think was possible. He did it so effortlessly. He was whistling at one point. The kids actually got into it and everyone seemed to work together.

What is wrong with me that I couldn't accomplish this? Shouldn't I be the one who knows how to clean? Isn't it my job as a MOM to be able to teach my kids how to sort, store, and say goodbye to junk?

I am choosing today, to put those feelings aside for now. I need to focus on how THANKFUL I am for the man God gave me. I am completely in love with him and the nice clean rooms my children now have.

I am also in love with something else. My sister shared a blog she found online that she thought I would like. It is called

"A Slob Comes Clean".

I already loved it, just for the name.

Then I began to read.

I am completely in awe that someone else thinks like me and struggles with ordinary things like I do.

The author, "Nony" is awesome. She is so REAL. She is humorous and also honest. I haven't read all the way to the more current post, but already I am hearing my own struggles echoed in her story. She may think I'm a weird blog stalker type, but I feel like I have found a kindred spirit in this whole hoarding/messy issue I have been struggling with.

Here is a post I just read by her from December 30, 2009. For those of you who know me well, you will see why it hit home to me:

Click here: A Slob Comes Clean

or enter the url below:

http://www.aslobcomesclean.com/2009/12/projects-vs-progress-adjusting-my.html

Now I'm off to do some cleaning.

I feel inspired!