Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Drive By Post...

Happy Wednesday to you! It's Wednesday already? Yikes! LOL I've got no artwork to share, but thought I'd pop in anyway to say hi!

I can safely say this summer has been quite enjoyable and we still have about 3 1/2 weeks or so until the girls head back to school. I think this has been one of the best times I've spent with my girls. I love it!

On Sunday I was in a "mood" and didn't head out to my craft room. Could have been PMS or just that I needed some downtime after working so hard on getting the room set up. I headed to the bookstore instead and enjoyed looking at various titles. When I'm feeling "moody" this seems to help me work through it. I have been reading a bit more (various subjects) and enjoying it. One of the books I read (I've had the book for a long time, just haven't taken the time to read it) was about organizing (something I aspire to be and haven't quite gotten there). I like to read different titles on the subject and usually find a nugget or two that inspires me. I also like reading in front of the girls so they can see Mommy practices what she preaches! (well, I don't preach, but you know what I mean). Anyway, as the start of the school year approaches, I keep going through in my mind some of the things I'd like to accomplish during the day while the girls are in school. I am looking forward to working on establishing more habits that will help me feel better organized. So, reading this book motivated me a bit.

So much so, in fact, that yesterday, I made a deal with the girls. Their room is a mess. No way around that fact. The girls share a room and that means double the amount of "schtuff" crammed in there. Add to that, they are reluctant to part with things. Well, I go in and clean it up, but then they don't have anything vested in the upkeep. So I decided to entice them to help me out (okay...maybe it was a bribe...whatever). I told them if they gave me a couple of hours in the room, with no griping or complaining and if they gave a good faith effort to give up some things, then I'd take them to do something they wanted to do. They wanted to go minature golfing again. So that was our deal. And before we started I asked them how the room made them feel, what they'd like to DO in there and what they would need to do to get to that point. All this really seemed to motivate them!

It took the better part of the day and two quick trips to Goodwill, but you can SEE the floor right now and everything is picked up off of it! Yay! I was impressed at how well they were able to part with some items that were just taking up space. While we didn't get through every single little thing, we managed to plow through a good chunk of the room and did I say...I made two trips to Goodwill to donate? (it helps that the Goodwill opened up a huge store and donation center about 5 minutes from our house? LOVE that-makes it quick and easy to drop off items before you have a chance to second guess your decisions-LOL).

I think it also helped that a cold front moved through the state and it was cloudy and only in the low 70s (if that). So it wasn't an unbearable task either. And the girls and I DID get to the miniature golf course and had a blast playing for an hour or so.

They were quite excited to show their dad when he got home from work. Now to work on keeping it this way...hopefully! That's gonna require effort on my part to establish a better pick up routine. Baby steps, right?

So that's what we've been up to, in addition to our usual activities.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope your week is productive and happy!
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14 comments:

Sparkplug17 said...

Yeah for organizing! And I love miniature golf too. Wish it was cooler here in Seattle, lol...I had AC in Denver though, so guess I didn't mind the heat as much when I was there. :)

Carolyn said...

I read the title of your post and LOL. I thought that was so cute! Oh i make deals with my boys too. Saturday morning is cleaning day. They don't go outside utill their rooms are clean.;)
Sam just got his own bedroom on Sunday. I'm not sure if i like the idea. They shared a bedroom since they were toddlers... Micah feels pretty lonely right now. I don't like that part. I thought about moving them back together... Sam won't hear it.
I'm glad you had a great time at miniature golf!

Felicia Fernandez said...

That's awesome!!! I'm trying to get the boys to help cut down some of their stuff too. My entire family is flying out for Xmas and we'll need all the space we can get! I hope that we can be as successful as you gals were.

I sure miss you!

Sarah said...

You Go Jeanne...and girls! We SO need to do this ha ha. It IS all about baby steps. I am SO glad you are enjoying your girls this summer. This is life and what it is all about!

Kathi Carlson said...

Thanks for the update! Good for you to turn an organizing project into something fun. When you get those girls shaped up, please come north and get me in the groove! Glad you worked yourself out of your mood. We all have 'em! It's cool to hear how much you are enjoying the girls. I've said it before. They're lucky!
Enjoy the rest of the week!!

Alanna said...

I'm glad you can find some refuge in books.

I loved the story about bribing your girls to help out. Too cute and something I'm sure we've all done.

Our weather here sure is weird. I have to say that I'm tired of late night storms waking me from a sound sleep.

gloria in Utah said...

WEll, if your girls read your comments, this might not be something you want to share. It might give them ideas...LOL I only have one daughter, and in the winter time, during school, her room was always spotless. She had this thing about organization so she could do her homework. ( yes, I was blessed) HOWEVER..in the summer, all bets were off. It was a CHALLENGE to walk into her room. The first summer this happened, I thought I had lost my little girl to that "off the planet disease" that sometimes happens to that age. Well, the school year was approaching and I told her.."YOU NEED TO CLEAN UP THIS MESS!! I don't care how you do it ( words that would come back to haunt me) but DO IT!!" Well, she spent the entire day locked in her room and she only came out to eat, go potty, and to rummage through my desk!! HUM.. Well, I had to go to work part of that time, so I missed the rummaging of the desk. I came home tired, hungry, and cranky. Deborah was sitting at the table as she had made dinner ( HUH??) Well, it was her specialty...spaghetti, so I was ok with that. Dad came home and he was happy too. I thought..uh oh, this is not normal..."did you get your room done as I asked?" "sure mom, come and see!!" We walked into her room and there wasn't a thing on the floor.. it was hanging from her walls and her ceiling!! I wish I had had a camera for the look on our faces, but stunned was not a word I would apply. Ok..so I started to say something, and she stopped me in my tracks. "Hear me out. There is this contest in the newspaper for the person that can come up with the best decorated bedroom for teens" Ok.. She promised me that once that contest was over, she would take it all down. That was 3 weeks away... Well, she came in second place!! She didn't win anything, but she did get it published in the paper, plus they interviewed her. Here is the kicker. In the interview, she mentions that she has one part of her wall that looks like flowers made of unused condoms!! OH MY HECK!! She is 14, and has condoms on the wall!! Needless to say, that was the FIRST thing that came off. I couldn't believe they had so many differnt colors!! LOL LOL SO..be careful what you tell them..ok??

gloria in Utah :)

Anke said...

Yes, the keeping it that way part is the hard one! We just went through that with my DD's room and every day I have to chase her in there to pick up her stuff. Of course, we didn't get rid of too much, they have trouble parting with things, but it really looked quite neat! Good luck and thanks for visiting me! Things are really looking up, I am so happy

Jackie said...

oh you are so lucky that it is cool there...we have had a heat wave and with no air it is stinkin hot :)
good going with your girls and their room...I always say...whatever works :)
fun bloggin here today :) will catch up on your earlier posts too

Heather said...

I laugh at your post title - for a "drive by post", you sure did have a lot to type, my friend! ;) Cleaning day is not my favorite day, but it feels so cathartic after it is completed, eh?

Sharli Schaitberger said...

Jeanne,

Your approach with the girls is admirable. I used to just pick up for my DD, (as you mentioned, that doesn't work) and then I ignored it (that didn't change anything either). I like your idea - and it does seem to be working! The good news is that my DD grew up to like her room clean. Whew!

Jeanne, I nominated you for the circle of friends award. You are so supportive and kind to me - you are dear to me, too. Thank you for being such a good friend!

Mary said...

Always enjoy your posts :)

You have been tagged at my blog - I hope you'll stop by and see why!

Mary
http://mbryt1.blogspot.com

Angela2932 said...

Wow! You've been busy, of the other creative kind! Have you ever gone to the flylady.net site? She's a true organizing diva! My clunker car deal. . . we're still waiting for word. We're hopeful; my clunker is not!

Julie said...

Good for you and the girls!