I worked every day last week as a substitute teacher. I loved it and wish I could be there everyday! It was a bit of a wake-up call for managing time and balancing family. I couldn’t make telephone calls to follow up with medical bills.I was pawning my child off to friends at the last minute. I couldn’t carpool to the daily sports practices. I realized just how challenging and restricting working outside the home can be for a mom and the whole family. When I did my student teaching I was working full time for 3 months, although I could leave at 4 pm and do planning and grading at home or sitting at one of the many sports facilities where my son has practices. At this job I am working now I was gone by 8 am and not home until 6:30. My laundry piled up, my blog was neglected, I was late delivering furniture re-hab pieces to clients and I couldn’t make it to the grocery store. I did realize that I HAVE to get more done at home while I have the chance. I need to clean out and reorganize my kitchen cupboards, every closet and under my bed. I need to wash all the woodwork in my home including scouring and bleaching my once white kitchen cupboards. The list goes on. So after an entire weekend of soccer games and errands and a scorching sore throat, I decided to use today to tackle a major project in my home that will make my working life more efficient. And that project was my bedroom closet.
I cant say that I am embarrassed of the mess because I am so proud of my accomplishment today, but please be kind my dapper friends. Don’t judge me too harshly while looking at this at this horrendous mess.
I had to clean out the clothes that I have not worn in the past year instead of holding on to them until I lose the 15 pounds I have gained that hasn’t budged since my knee surgery in the spring. I collected a nice selection of clothing to send to a mom who was left homeless with her daughter and husband from Hurricane Sandy.
I set aside shoes and sweatshirts and puses to donate to our local charity. I threw away and organized papers and other “crap” that has accumulated over so many years.
I avoid starting big projects like this because they consume so much time and if you get interrupted in the middle, it isn’t like you can just stop and pick it up later. This closet took me an entire 8 hour day barely stopping to get a fast, healthy lunch to eat while I worked!
And I avoid them also because most often one big project turns into many other related projects as a result.
Like finding pictures that I needed to hang in the bathroom. . .
And finding a cute mothers day gift that my son had made for me 4 years ago. . . which is still true that my favorite foods are vegetables and water and my favorite thing to do is to read!
The poster on the other side with the “Elvis” is from 20 years ago when a starving local artist who dressed like Elvis in our area sold these collages that he made to support himself. Support your local artists!
Sorted, folded, color coordinated and SO ORGANIZED!
My husband and I keep our own stash of towels separate from the boys so we always have a clean one 🙂
I ended up with two giant bags to donate, and a huge box to send to New Jersey. (Thanks to my good friends Mollie and Lauren I have 2 big boxes to send with a few pairs of shoes for the parents and tons of clothes and toys for the daughter. YAY! I am so excited to be able to help people directly!
SO, this project was a super success. What shall I tackle tomorrow while I am motivated and on a roll!
What big project do you need to tackle?
How do you manage home and work?
