Clean

Yesterday the kids and I cleaned out the closet that hubby and I share. Honestly. Where on earth does all that stuff come from? I thought I'd done a pretty good job of keeping it organized, but when we pulled everything out into the room so I could vacuum and dust the shelves, we had three times too much stuff to put back. Of course, to be fair I have to say that most of the extras weren't ours at all. It was lots of stuff that just doesn't really have another home in our house, so it gets shoved into our closet. Ugh. Some of the treasures we found included old baby monitors, rolls of maps and posters for school, catalogs (get real ~ when am I ever going to have time to read those?), an antique electric train in the box, pictures that we took down when we rearranged the living room, and a big wall clock. No wonder it was getting a little stuffy in there. So we sorted and sifted and tossed what we could. Then we put back what actually belongs in there. It looks great. Now I'll find homes outside our closet for the rest of the stuff.  

We cleaned out my daughter's closet a few weeks ago, with the help of her Gram. Next comes the boys' closet, then the linen closet. Then I will move on to our school area.  

To get ready for home school to start back up in the fall I always clean out all the bookshelves and the school closet and the desks. Then I take stock of what we already have for this year and put stuff back where it goes. I'm sure other home school moms never have this problem, but we seem to have a bit of trouble keeping everything in the proper tubs, boxes, and drawers. When everything is back in its place, I can finally tell what we need and what we already have.

Once we are organized I get to make a list of things we need for this year. Then I get to shop!

Now, I am NOT a shopper. I may be the only woman on the planet, but I never have the desire to just shop and browse and walk the malls. When I go into a store I bring a list and a budget. I buy what is on the list, and then I leave. That's just how I am. I do love shopping with my daughter, but we like to see how little we can spend and how fast we can find what we need. Then we like to go get a tall glass of something cold and talk about life and other stuff. That's how we shop.

God knew exactly what he was doing when he gave me my husband and the family that came with him, because my wonderful mother-in-law does my shopping for me! She is a pro. She finds all the best bargains on great kids clothes, cool toys, nifty gadgets, and craft supplies. And she gets us exactly what we need. Yes, I'm thoroughly spoiled.

But, shopping for school stuff is another story. I can spend hours in book stores and teacher supply stores poring over the choices, analyzing how different curriculums or workbooks or methods will work for each of my children. I love thinking of where we were last year, how much we've all learned together, and what lies ahead for us this year. I do take my list and my budget along, but I also browse for new ideas and spend lots of time flipping through all the options. And now eldest comes along and helps choose some of her own materials, so that makes it even more fun.

Wish me luck~ I've still got two closets and our home school area between me and the great Back to School Shopping Trip. I'm pretty motivated, so I'll keep you posted.