The Poor Mom Revolution

     One of the easiest ways to destress and lower my anxiety is cleaning and purging. I’ve found it pretty therapeutic over the years, but sometimes it’s hard to find the motivation. Recently, I’ve been feeling extremely overwhelmed by my house. The moment I walk in, I feel as though I can’t take a deep breath and the stuff on the counters and bins of unfolded laundry take up all of my thoughts. My room is messy and by no means is it calming as it should be. You know when you get to a point where it seems like too much to handle and you don’t know where to start? I’ve been there for weeks. I come home exhausted and just want to relax, but I can’t quite get there. 

     Saturday was no different. I lacked the motivation and didn’t want to do anything, but sit on the couch with a blanket and read. Unfortunately, my hubby had other plans. He got the whole house up and cleaning for hours. To be fair, at the beginning, I was overwhelmed. I kind of wanted to cry and did for a hot minute or 5 and it seemed like there was no end in sight. But as my hubby always does…he got us to giggle our way through folding mounds of clothes, the kids helped with sweeping while we vacuumed and our rooms were all organized. We threw out two bags of garbage, donated 2 bags of clothes and put away all of our clothes so far. It was a breath of fresh air and the house looks so much better. 

     I’m all about this minimalist lifestyle, which we do pretty well with, but the organization is where I fall short. Instead of immediately throwing something out or putting it away in the drawer or cabinet, I set it on the counter. Enough of those add and build up. Then the stress comes into play. We don’t have a lot of furniture or anything like that, but the little things and extras add up. After a little while, the hecticness of it all is too much. I’m constantly watching videos and following those that try and teach ways to do little by little each day and honestly it sounds practical, but just simply isn’t. I’m already constantly on the go from the moment I wake up around 6am until I sit down at 9/10pm on the couch or crash into bed. 

     With August already here, I’m working on organizing us all for the school year, especially with soccer season on the horizon. We’ve been pretty good at getting our clothes out and ready the night before, we have some new lunch items the kids are excited about, organized school supplies, getting their clothing organized in drawers, brainstorming meal prepping ideas and I need to have things be consistent. 

     If you’re anything like me, I am constantly worried about having people come over without ransacking the house with a cleaning spree. I have to apologize a million times about all the unfinished projects we have going on throughout the home. I’d prefer to go out to avoid any unnecessary stress that would come from it. Growing up, I’d just walk into my friend’s houses unannounced. Didn’t worry about whether they were dressed or not, house was clean or messy or if they even knew their child invited me over. It was an open door policy. What is that craziness? I could currently think of nothing worse. Is it the need to be perfect? That my house is so lived in that I can’t attempt to clean the house thoroughly each day or week. I wish I had a cleaning company come in biweekly or once a month, but I guarantee my anxiety would still make me clean prior to them coming over just to say, I know it’s messy as I didn’t get around to it. 

     Best decluttering tips I’ve found that have worked are …

1. Having the family clean for 5-10 minutes at the end of the night to reset
2. Each month or two, take a trash bag and fill it with either throw away items or a donation bag.
3. Pick one room at a time to reorganize. Think in sections instead of it all at once to avoid becoming overwhelmed.

   Am I too old to change? Who knows… But I made a list on Amazon of our meal prep, school/work lunch prep ideas. I hope you find them useful like I did! They’ve been a game changer!

https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3FL031HAY4LV6?ref_=wl_share