Clutter Issues

For those of you who know me and have been to my house PRE baby, you know that I have always kept my house very tidy (and mom- I am talking post living at home, I have no excuses for my room back then!). I couldn’t stand for things to be out of order and if my house was not dusted, vacuumed and well, just “clean-cleaned” every week, I felt out of sorts and irritable.

After Adler was born, I really struggled with clutter issues. Of course, he didn’t play with toys at first, but he had a lot of “equipment” that had no place, lots of burp cloths, diapers, blankets….and then there was all our mess that I just didn’t have the time or energy to do anything with. As Adler has gotten older, his toys have overtaken our house. In addition, due to his increased mobility and curiosity, there is not an inch of our house in which he does not comb over, un-do or move every single day.

I am taking steps to deal with the constant clutter in our home; there are baskets in almost every room for toys; and I am trying to remember to spend a minute or so straightening each room before we leave to it play in another. But it still gets to me sometimes.

The thing is though: I love my home now more than ever before. Last night, after Adler was in bed, as I was pulling Adler’s rain boots off the pantry shelf and grabbing the can of beans out of his toy-chest, I realized that I love to find those sorts of reminders around the house. It warms my heart and makes me laugh to find the results of his little busy hands at play and busier little mind in things like misplaced boots found in the dishwasher and stuffed animals carefully placed under the bathroom sink. I love that my house is now filled with shrills and shrieks of laughter and whirling toys; always buzzing with energy.

I always thought that for a house to feel like home, for it to feel like something you can be comfortable in, it has to immaculate and impeccably tidy. Understandably, order is important in a home. I am certainly not dismissing it and really trying to restore it. But the thing is, regardless of how clean my house it, I am most at home whenever my toddler is near by, toys and mess and all.