"Stuff" it

Stuff, stuff, stuff.  I have it everywhere!  I've set a few goals for myself to better serve my family and make my home a happier, cleaner, and more peaceful place (that post will be coming soon).  For now, here is the goal I've been tackling for the past week.  I have decided to throw out at least 5 items from my home everyday.  Of course, if it is useful to someone else, I will donate it, but I am talking about items that no one else would even want.  Here is a non-comprehensive list of scraps I have unloaded:

a half-used Mary Kay lipstick sample
an expired tube of Neosporin
a year-old sample packet of face cream
several empty cassette tape cases whose tapes were long gone
our old chore cards
a pair of shoes from an outlet that consisted of two left shoes...seriously why did I keep those?!
12 pairs of shoes that I had not worn in over a year
17 food storage container lids and 3 food storage containers, none of which had mates
2 infant finger food containers
A small mountain of papers

This has taken, literally minutes, maybe seconds daily.  I have almost begun to look forward to it.  It's freeing to get rid of these unnecessary jumbles.  This is not a new revelation to me.  It is, again, just breaking down into its components, or bites, if you will, to make it more manageable and being diligent, first to actually throw those 5+ items in the can daily and, to not allow new disarray back in, but that, my friends is an entirely different goal!

Patience Padawan

I'm still working on figuring out all of the blogging features and such, so, please have patience as I muddle my way through and get things set up! Thanks!!

Screaming Mimis

I am a screamer. I come from a long line of screamers. I think there must be a screaming gene. Before I had children I vowed that I would not be a screamer. You know those annoying people with no children who know how to do all things concerning children correctly? The ones who give parents unsolicited advice and glare at unruly children and their parents in restaurants? Yes. That was me. That's why God gave me four boys...and twins. I'm hard-headed. Just ask my mom or, better yet, my husband.

There is no time when I long to scream more than when I am in the shower. I am relatively certain that my children have a strategic plan laid out and hidden away somewhere to optimize their screaming during my 10 to 15 minutes of daily showering. I give them the talk everyday. The rules are laid out. Appropriate behaviors encouraged. The consequences explained. Yet, nearly without fail, the door closes, the water turns on, and the screech-fest begins. It is absurd...at least to me...probably not to them. When I hear that first squeal, my primary reaction is to howl back. My personal fav? "KNOCK IT OFF!!"

So, what's the problem? Take your pick. There are several. At first glance, the problem seems to be that my kids are being disobedient and driving me crazy. That's sort of the cop out answer. Are my kids disobeying? Yes. Are they driving me crazy? Yes, but only because I am allowing it. My kids obviously, are greatly tempted with screaming and fighting while I am in the shower. Hmmm...tempted...and they are giving in. They are little sinners. I am a big sinner. As a big sinner, when I give in to a temptation, do I want someone to yell, "KNOCK IT OFF!!" from the next room? Probably not the most effective route. And while we are on that whole self-control thing, am I not struggling with the same temptation while standing there in the shower? They are hollering at each other because of non-compliance while playing. I am wailing at them for not doing what I want. What a great example.

Am I saying that there are never situations in which it is appropriate to "thunder" at your children as our pastor calls it? No, but I am saying that in this situation, I am as wrong as they are. I am the poor example and I need to find a better way. Until I get all of that sorted out, I think I'll take to singing, LOUDLY, in the shower. Maybe they'll think I've lost my mind and be just distracted enough that they'll forget to shriek at one another.