Are you laughing? After reading my title, ‘Advice on Home Keeping and Child Rearing’ you probably should be! Either that or you are totally flabbergasted and appalled that I would even consider handing out ‘advice’. I don’t blame you. You will soon discover, I think, that ‘advice’ was written rather tongue-in-cheek.
We’ll start with Home Keeping
I have discovered that my day is 100% more peaceful if I arise to a house that is, at the least, an organized mess. Sometimes I find myself in the middle of project and I leave it all spread out on my dining room table, but most days I like to have my dining room table clear at bedtime. After all, it’s the first thing you see when you come down the stairs or in the front door. Someday I hope to have a sewing room that is ONLY a sewing room, large enough for a grand work table, and a door I can close when I need to leave it in the middle of a project. Or when the mess is a complete mess instead of an organized mess.
Likewise I like to have my living room neat and tidy each evening. I begin most of my mornings on my couch in my living room with a cup of coffee and my Bible. I enjoy my quiet time so much more when the space I occupy is neat and tidy instead of strewn with all the kids papers, books, markers, pencils, toys, etc.
And my sewing room. I can only function for a short time in this sewing/school/computer/craft room before it is time to stop, reorganize, put away and fluff. My creativity level just doesn’t remain at an acceptable level in a mess.
This is what my sewing room looked like by the end of last week. The chair and ottoman with the heap of dropcloths on top of them is for a client. So it will be leaving – hopefully soon. It is on the docket for next week. But don’t hold me to it 😉
And just in case you think at first glance, ‘Oh that’s not so bad’…
Here is the pile behind the chair.
And a closer shot of the desk piled high with school stuff. And a stack of song books I don’t know where to store.
And a closer look at the stacks on the craft cupboard, the pile of vintage fabrics on burying the basket in the corner, the fabric and drop cloth that I just left on the floor, and the piles on the ironing board.
Seriously. That fabric pile has grown all summer. Time for some whole-hearted organization.
I spent most of last weekend working on other parts of my house. On Monday I had projects facing me that needed a Seamstress. But this Seamstress was just too stressed by the mess to even want to sew. Cleaning came first. I dug in and this desk ended up looking like this. The spelling book, papers and dvds go in the locker but as school was in progress I left them out. And didn’t bother to move them for the photo.
Much better.
Qualifies as an organized mess but it is at least all on shelves behind a door!
That took care of one side of the room. I also took care of the piles behind the chair and moved the chair over to the wall so nothing more could be piled behind it. But then I turned around to the other side of the room. This space is almost never neat and tidy. There are always projects here, along with tidbits of this and that from here and there. School papers, a letter from a friend, a new ribbon order. And always more projects. Most days it just gets piled up higher so I have some space to work. This time I said ‘ENOUGH!!’
And I cleaned it up.
I don’t remember the last time the space on my desk behind my sewing machine was this cleared off.
The skinny baskets hold my sewing thread. pattern weights in the basket to the left. Small bag holds half-finished key chains. Larger basket to the right holds smaller projects or projects that need to be put at the front of the list.
Serger thread and sewing books are on the shelf above. So much nicer to create in a cleaned up space. I wonder how long it will last?
I did say ‘advice on home keeping AND child rearing’. I just had some thoughts on the second thing the other day as I was despairing over my seemingly complete lack of child rearing skills. I jotted the thoughts down and thought I’d share.
Do you ever despair that your children will ever learn to put others first? That they will ever think of someone besides themselves? That they will actually be polite naturally? Say thank-you without being reminded? I definitely DO. I am pretty confident that there is a way for this to happen. [I’m just not sure it will happen in MY family!]
Ever heard the saying, ‘More’s caught than taught’? It’s true. There are things I do today because I remember my Mother doing them. There are circumstances that I endure or get through gracefully because I remember my Mother reacting in a gracious graceful way. Not that I’m always perfect – not by a long shot – but the older I get the more I am able to remember to handle things in a more mature way – like I remember my Mom handling things when I was a child.
I think this means I need to watch even more closely my actions and reactions. Because my children are watching. And they are ‘catching’ much more by what they see, than they are by hearing all the ‘teaching’ I do. [harping at them all the time might be more like it] I hope it means that someday they will look back and remember that I handled things maturely and gracefully [at least sometimes] and they will act and react the same way.
That’s my $.02 worth for today. And I promise I’m not working on a book on Home Keeping or Child Rearing 😉
Sew a Fine Seam
It is nice to see that others work in “organized messes!” In fact, I am trying to “organize” one today. Your sewing-etc. room looks delightful!
Thank you Sara! It doesn’t seem to stay cleaned up for long but every now and then it’s got to be put back to rights!
The boys and I (mostly the boys) worked hard all Monday morning to get the house all cleaned up. By Tuesday evening it looked like a cyclone had come through again. My sewing machine is in the living room and my sewing supplies are in the school room next to it. So when I sew I somehow manage to make a mess in TWO rooms! You did a great job cleaning yours all up. The boys are working on getting ours cleaned up again – I gotta tackle the sewing mess though!
🙂 I use my dining room table for cutting out and creating Jenni, so I can make a huge mess of two rooms too! And one reason the sewing room gets such a mess is because I clean up the dining room by stacking it in the sewing room when i don’t have time to put it all away!
Love it. I can’t function in any sort of mess, so I totally get it. Someday, I will have a creative craft room like yours. It’s so beautiful, even in it’s messiness.
Thanks Miranda! I am glad I have this room – though I do look forward to having a bigger one just for sewing/business someday!
I’m with you on cleaning up/putting away before bedtime – it makes ALL the difference the next day. I always have to start in the kitchen – if i keep up with that, everything else seems to clean up much quicker and more smoothly. i’m a much happier mom that way 🙂
Kayann you seem like you would always have things all neat and tidy!
Well…you just never can tell about people 😉
🙂 🙂
Jill,
What a fantastic post , congratulations on your workspace blitz !! I’m too embarrassed to even contemplating posting a picot my uber-messy space x & congratulations to your kids on having such a great mom x x x have a lovely weekend x
Siubhan @ http://craftlee.blogspot.ie/
Jill what a fantastic post !!!! Lucky old you cleaning up your workroom. ! And your lucky kids having such a great mum! X x x
Have a lovely weekend x x x
Thanks Siubhan! I’m so happy to have my work room cleaned up once again 🙂 I’m sure my kids wouldn’t say they are lucky right now but hopefully in a few years they will!
It looks great! I love having stuff cleaned up. Your sewing table looks so lovely. The problem is to live and to create there is no way to keep it neat all the time. Unfortunately.
I like to keep my kitchen cleaned up as I go, when I’m cooking, but lots of the time that doesn’t happen. I end up being out of time and the mess piles up.
🙂 So true – to create you do have to make a mess – no matter what you are creating! Food, clothes, decor, etc!
Hi Jill-I love. love. love this post…you are abrave woman to show all those nooks and crannies jammed full of treasures! How fun that I recognize the chair :0 Cant wait to see what you do with it!
Blessings,
Anne
P.S. You are so right about kids catching what they are around every day…..you have reat kids that will each have their indiidual personalities…BUT you wil see yourself in each of them 🙂
🙂 I wondered if you ever checked up on me here! Now you know I’m planning to work on your chair next week – Which means I now have to follow through!! That’s a good thing – I’m way too good at putting things off if I don’t have a deadline!
You did a great job cleaning and organizing. It looks very good. Thank you for the kind remarks about your Mother. Believe me, there were many times I blew it completely and despaired of ever getting it right. So glad to know you have some good memories and I can assure you that your kiddos will have the same.
Thanks Mom! I remember your very thorough yearly spring cleaning and I cringe at how I don’t do nearly as well. My kids won’t know how to clean well if they use me as an example! I will have to send them over to do yours – you can sit in your easy chair and sip lemonade and tell them what to do! Thanks for all the inspiration you always are and all the stuff you’ve put up with from me over the years! I love you!
Ahhh organizing your creative space must be one of the best feelings in the world!
Yep, Yelle, it is a wonderful thing to have it organized!
Good reminder about more things being “caught than taught”!! I learned a lot about serving other from my mother’s example. I learned a great deal about being kind to others from both of my parent’s, especially my dad’s example. Unfortunately, I also learned the piles and piles of crafting, creativity stuff and piles in general from my mother. Ugh, my house looks worse than yours. I agree, my dining table is the first thing I see when I come downstairs. I like to have it cleaned off at night. The living room is a work in progress, but this last week we (me, myself and I, and for a little bit my friend and assistant) took to tackling it. Let’s see if I can get it under control by the end of October, then we can move on to the next room. Thanks for the reminder, and I like your $.02. It was worth far more than that. -K
Karen, just look at it as another project – and dig into cleaning it up!! LOL!! It will be so rewarding when it is neat and tidy – declutter as you go and make yourself get rid of stuff – i did that this past Spring and it is a wonderful help.
You really transformed the space in the after pictures.
I find it so challenging to keep our homeschool materials organized and readily available. I spend too much time simply evaluating the best way to organize. lol
Oh Kellie I’m so right there with you! I’m always trying to figure out a better way to make it easy to keep it neat! Instead of just getting it all neat 😉
Your sewing and craft room messy looked better than mine does cleaned up!! At least you could see your floor. But, anytime I “clean” that room, I can’t find a thing. I am the most unorganized person in the world.
Good job and beautiful children.
Judy
Judy, if you work best in your sewing room that way then go for it! why bother cleaning it up – it’s no fun to not be able to find things 😉
Haha! you made a huge difference in that room! I do know what you mean about it being hard to concentrate when the house is cluttered… Boy do I know what you mean 🙂
🙂 Only bad thing about getting it cleaned up – it doesn’t stay that way for long!
I loved the peek into your work space. I really didn’t think it was too bad…until your close up pictures :). You did a great job decluttering and organizing your things back into place. I am impressed! I would love to just come and watch you create. I’ll even clean up as you go 🙂 And, you girls are beautiful. I am sure they will grow up to be as talented, kind and big hearted as you are.
Thanks Amy! I’d love to have someone clean up for me as I go! LOL! And you are right, the shot of the whole room didn’t show how bad it really was – thus the close ups 🙂
Oh my gosh, that pile of fabric in the corner made me laugh, probably because I cleaned up a similar one on the weekend! My magazines were almost as high! 🙂 You’re a wise mom, thanks for the reminder sweet friend!
🙂 Somehow it’s just easier for me to pile things up when I’m working and then take a few hours or a day and just clean it all up at once! I’ve always been this way!
I love this post. I love how honest it is and how real you let yourself be on your blog. I need to do more of that because I think it is wonderful! I have a craft room that I can hardly even step foot in right now…. It drives me nuts how unorganized it is so I mainly just avoid it. What is it about fabric that makes it so hard to store nicely?! It just does not seem right! I needed a little motivation to get going, perhaps I will one of these days! And I love your real life advice on your kids. I have not even started to think about raising and rearing children… but I can imagine it will be something that will not come simply to me! Anyways… I hope you are having a wonderful day my friend!
Jaime
Thanks Jaime! With kids you just take one day at a time – it’s all you can do! And you pray – a LOT!!
Now that you finished organizing your room, can you come over & organize my mess…LOL Your room looks sooo good.
Renee A
I’d love to help you with your ‘mess’ Renee! Someone elses mess isn’t near as bad as your own!