The point of organization

I've spent an inordinate amount of time (and if we're being honest, money, too) on the Great Organization Project of 2010.

That is to say, I'm sick of drowning in what feels like clutter. So I'm overhauling the whole house. Rubbermaid bins, Sterilite drawers and bookshelves abound as I find a place for everything and haul boxes of junk to Goodwill each week. Every spare minute is spent finding a place for each miscellaneous object that keeps moving around from place to place with nowhere to actually belong.

I bought drawers for the girls' craft table, then labeled each drawer so there is no questioning what actually belongs there.

I bought a bookcase ($25 at Wal Mart, heckuva deal) and spent a day building it (only 4 pieces left over! I consider that success!) and moving books all around. We now have a shelf dedicated to homeschooling books and supplies. They're organized too - science books, animal books (in order by class), math, reference, classic literature, educational magazines, and books about homeschooling and education. It's like a library. It makes me happy.

Our fridge is plastered with notes, lists and schedules - school subjects to work on each day, our calendar for the week, grocery list, meal list, to-do list. It's not terribly pretty, but it sure is effective.

I'm not done yet, having yet to finish all the cupboards and drawers in the kitchen and some parts of the basement, but I've made a substantial dent. I know pretty much everything we have in the house, and I can tell you where nearly anything is. That feels good.

All this work, all the hours spent moving things around, labeling and straightening and culling, it all came to a point this weekend. I had Free Time. Lots of it. So much, in fact, that I spent two hours watching a movie with the kids, another two hours reading them library books, half an hour playing learning games and another half hour playing fun games, playing dress up and play-doh, and having a tea party. Not to mention enough time to complete about 6 inches of sweater knitting, read half a novel, scrapbook five or six pages, and sleep in a bit with my husband this morning.

Free Time is a luxury for any mother. To think that I managed to create some makes me feel Darn Good. Things are running smoothly - the house isn't spotless, but it could be in about fifteen minutes. I know where my keys are, there's food in the fridge, and school for tomorrow is all planned out. The kids are sleeping soundly, the cat is snoring next to me, my husband will be home from work soon.

Ah! It's like bliss! I tell you, it pays to get organized.

I feel rather smug, and I almost feel ashamed to be bragging so shamelessly about this incredible feat. Except that we all know it's not going to last more than a week, because such is the Life of a Housewife. And now that I've written this (as Murphy's law so clearly states) everything will go wrong tomorrow.

But for tonight, I'll enjoy it. It feels good to relax.

For all of you that have Organization on the top of your New Year's Resolution list, I support you fully - it's worth the effort!