Clutter...

I have a lot of clutter. No matter what I do I can NOT conquer this mound of crap that covers every horizontal surface of my house. Mail, papers, notes, books, magazines, newspapers, packaging to things, things we have taken away from the dogs…it is endless!

I thought that by moving from a 1200 square foot house to a 3000 square foot house it would be much easier to manage. In fact, I promised my husband when we decided to buy this house that it would not be like the old house. I lied. I should have done like Brick on “Modern Family” does and whispered “I’m lying” as I promised this.

I thought cancelling all the magazines and only getting the newspaper on Sunday would help. It did a little bit. I just switched the newspaper back to Sunday because it made me crazy. I was the only one that read it. Princessa took five minutes to do the Sudoku. Then it taunted me and spread itself all over the house from the kitchen to living room and bathroom.

I know there are all kinds of organizational help available from Fly Lady and other places. Yeah, unless they actually come to my house and do it, it’s not going to work. I don’t clean like that every day. I have a problem with procrastination and motivation too, but that is another blog!

Several times a year I clean off all the surfaces. This is usually in preparation for a party or holiday. (And Easter is this weekend.)  It isn’t long before the surfaces are back to their previous state. I do know that my kids and husband contribute greatly to this problem. They throw their books, papers, dance bags, coats and other belongings around (mostly on my dining room table) and then wonder why they can’t find their stuff. “Mooooommmmmyyyy! Where’s my phone/iPod/ school ID badge?” I try to put my stuff where it belongs. They do not, and Big Daddy likes to blame the mess on everyone else but himself. We have a daily search for car keys, wallet, check book, and glasses.

I wonder what those people who have perfectly clean and clear surfaces do with their stuff. Do they even have stuff?  (How can you not have stuff??? I don’t understand that…) Are they that boring that they don’t know what to do with their time but clean all day every day? I know I have so many things I can and want to do rather than clean and tame clutter. Read, write, Face Book, watch TV, sleep… They say that dull women have clean houses. I agree with that!