Day 3 - 31 Days of Clean

So it has taken me a bit longer to handle Day 3's Challenges.  We have alot of bookshelves and cabinets.  We also have tons and tons of woodwork in this house.  I admit that I am not nearly done dusting all the corners.  I sort of neglect those areas of the house.


Day 3's Martha's challenge has me dusting the outside of cabinets and bookcases.  I did try that the best I could.  Been having trouble using my right arm...again.  So dusted what I could and wiped down as much as I could also.  


Today also has plenty of reminders to take care of yourself.  Leave yourself some rejuvenation time.  


And this is the one thing that really gets me.....Clutter causes stress.  We live in a very cluttered house.  We have storage in our basement, but it is extremely damp and leaks horribly. So we cannot use it for family space.  We have to be careful with what and how we store things down there also. 


We have 6 people in roughly a 1300 sq foot home.  Joe works from home, so he has a little office area and items he needs.  My office/work area is the dining room.  I keep planning materials and our eBay store items there.  The small business that I am working on for Joey will also work out of there.  Half our living room is our school room area, including curriculum storage.  We have an enclosed front porch, but right now it is so cold, the kids can't play out there.  Well they can if it's not windy, I just stick a heater out there to warm it up a bit.  Because trust me....there are days that little space is needed!!!!  


Our house is cluttered....way cluttered.  I am working my way through things, but WOW!!!!  I come from a long line of pack rats.  It's genetic....and there is no cure.  I work on it as I can.  After all, I am just sitting around eating bonbons all day long....lol!


Today it was encouraged to think of one area that is really driving you crazy......I, of course, had to narrow down which areas are driving me crazier.  Today, I decided on our board game area.  It is neglected.  We play a game and I never pay attention to make sure it's put away properly.  Well that needs to change.  At one point last week, I was actually afraid that I was going to be buried under a pile of games as they toppled over.  


I forgot the before shot....but from last week you could see the mess.

And this is after only about an hour worth of work, between answering kids schoolwork questions.

 And because I was able to clean up the games a bit better, I was able to bring out and display some puzzles that I think have not gotten enough use.  And I have been trying very hard to bring out the puzzles more as time/boredom fillers.  Brayden loves puzzles, but the others not so much.  But puzzles are great for fine motor skills and visual perception issues.  Areas in which Caty and Joey both need help in. 

I was very happy with the end results.  The games are not perfect...and yes we have wayyyy tooo many games.  But believe it or not, most of those are played on a regular basis.  And since I will not be afraid that I am going to get knocked out, will be including them more in our schooling and evening routine.  Tonight was the first night we hadn't played a game in about a week.  And that was because we had our family bible study instead.  And the kids asked to watch a movie afterward, which we agreed to.


There are many other stress areas, and I'll keep posting as I make my way through them.


Am I ready for Day 4?!?!!?  I'll read on and find out!