My teen starts high school in a few weeks. I'm not really sure how that can be possible. I want to help her start out the year with a system for keeping assignments and projects organized in one general area.
Here's an interesting fact: In the last 30 years, the size of the average American house has doubled, but the size of the average American family has halved. It's not that we don't have enough space; we have too much crap.
I tend to hyperventilate when there's too much clutter surrounding me, and trying to change my daughter's innate messy behavior creates friction between us. So, I've hired a professional organizer.
Ruth arrives tomorrow! Some preliminary purging was necessary prior to her arrival. I've completely cleaned out my very messy office closet (that's the catch-all spot to keep my space neat... you know, out of sight, out of mind), emptied out a small desk, and reorganized furniture to make room for a small photo studio. “What does your office being neat and organized have to do with your daughter's study space?” you ask.
All this purging motivated my daughter to do the same. Copious toys, clothes, shoes, junk were discarded or put in large plastic garbage bags for a garage sale. She refused my help. Yeah!
I grabbed this opportunity to do a little baking and photography in my new mini-photo studio space.
Looking forward to a late peach crop! and a visit from Ruth!
10 comments:
Your food photography is wonderful. Have you ever thought of working as a food stylist?
I know exactly what you mean about hyperventilating in a cluttered space. I keep telling myself that mine is "creative clutter" but it still gives me palpitations.
Hi Sharon, funny you should mention it... I'm working on a pie book to show some of my food styling and photography work. I hope you're having a good summer!
Peach pie is my FAVORITE. Check out my peachy post sometime. I love this post. Your pie is gorgeous.
Hi HappyGirl, Thanks for your compliments! I hope you have fresh peaches at a stand near you.
I would like Ruth to do some organizing at my house. I could get rid of half my stuff and still have too much. Love the peach pie.
Cathy, I can give you Ruth's number if you're interested. She's a great idea person and motivator!
How cool is that?! I've been cleaning out since Christmas but my teen continues to resist.
Gorgeous peach pie! The studio sounds like a dream and I'm eager to hear how things go with Ruth.
no kidding? I am not surprised to hear that you are working on a pie book - that is a natural for you! Love to see it.
I can't believe that Isabel is starting high school - whoosh! Goes by too fast!
Working on the clutter reduction, myself - an on-going process if there ever was one!! I now have a storage unit that I am using as a staging area - neutral zone, no emotions or distractions, take a carfull of stuff over, sort it out, pack and label to store, or recycle, or to the dump. Feels good to get it out of the house, and remarkable, very little is actually getting saved. Hah!!
Hi Lisa, Teens and messiness go hand in hand. My teen seems to thrive in clutter.
Jazgal, Your de-cluttering system sounds like a good one. Not being able to let go of emotional attachments is what can turn us all into hoarders. Emotional attachments definitely slowed down our progress, but at the same time, Iz and I enjoyed sharing memories of her childhood with each discarded toy. Sniff sniff.
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