Clutter

I have a secret.  And it's not that I ate two of Sister V's brownies for breakfast this morning.  It's this: Even though I (may) appear to have things together, I really don't.  I am a hider of clutter.  I have way to many junk drawers (probably 10).  The playroom closets could probably even be deemed 'clutter closets.'  I want things to look good, but open my linen closet and I will blush.  It's funny because I can't stand clutter in visible places but out of sight is okay by me!  I recently saw my Dad's bedroom after 6 months of him being widowed.  The clutter was almost as high as your eye in some places and he was basically sleeping with his mail.  It gave be the willies.  It was right there in the open for his new bride to see!  I was embarrassed for him.  Hopefully she has taken care of that problem for him (in a nice way).

There is one person who knows this about me.  I can't hide it from Brian.  Brian is my super-nice pest control guy from Century Pest Control.  I call him whenever the ants come back and he usually has to look under my kitchen sink and spray his poison down there.  Since I don't ever have to look there much myself, I let that area go.  It's filthy down there!  I apologize for it, and he kindly tells me that everyone's under-sink area is like that.

Why oh why do I have the desire for clean but not the clean habits?  It's a curse.  Or maybe it's the fact that raising a family is a busy business, leaving me no time to de-clutter.  Some day when I am an empty nester, perhaps all my secret clutter spots will magically be organized.  When it gets to be too much for me, I will get around to cleaning 'inside the box', and I must admit it feels great to be organized in the hidden places as well as having the 'outward appearance' of organization.  It's like finally scratching a place that has been itching me for months.  I also love getting rid of things.  It's like I told my Dad only yesterday, "The only thing that feels better than getting something new is getting rid of things you don't need."

I have a sister who is super organized and when I visit her home I am so impressed by her alphabetized food storage closet and the bathroom drawers with bobby-pins in their specific small cardboard box.  When I can't find the nutmeg in my unorganized spice cupboard I think to myself "I bet S never has this problem"  I fret at all the wasted time I spend looking for things when they aren't in the right place.  Maybe it's because I have all these "helpers" around here putting things away in the wrong place.  It's probably also because I don't have the time to really organize and then follow up and keep things where they go.  It's faster to just put things away in the nearest junk drawer than to take the time to put it away properly.  But by doing this I know I am contributing to future insanity when I can't find that item.  Do you think it's something I could be cured of? Is there hope for me?  I think there just might be, because the other day I snapped while getting under the kitchen sink for a trash bag.  I dropped everything (even the trash bag) and used the closest wet rag I could find from the sink to wipe down the under-sink cupboard.  I organized the space so beautifully even S would be proud.  

I can't wait for Brian's next visit!

Too lazy to take my own junk drawer photo.... This one is off the internets.