Time for Another Change

My world has shifted on its axis, yet again. While I have loved running my organizing business, and will continue to work with a limited number of long time clients; I find myself in the wonderfully amazing position of wanting to be a stay-at-home mom AND having the ability to do so. I have always felt that I needed to be many things at once. Now I feel that I need to do one thing at a time.

Here is why:

Eric and I will travel to China again in the spring to bring home another precious son! It was an unexpected opportunity to adopt again. While we did not expect it, we learned of him from the adoption community. A potential adoption by another family had fallen through. His personality, gender, age and special needs were a perfect fit for our family. He needed us at this time in his life and we chose to step up and become his parents. We recognized that although we thought we knew what was meant for our family of six, that the Spirit of Life had other plans. We are to be a family of seven. Adoption is not for the faint of heart, yet, if you are called to it you must prepare for a wild ride. We have been called again. Our son is slightly younger than our girls and will need lots of support and time as he adjusts and transitions. He is also clever and fun and full of smiles and laughter and love. He knows we are coming for him and he is so happy.

Eric & I are homeschooling Megan & Shanna this year. Most people react positively when we tell them this, and yet, they say "Oh, I couldn't do that". Well, I thought that too. I had no idea how to imagine having that much responsibility. At the same time, I thought maybe I could. We were worried about the holes that they had in their foundational skills and the pace they were expected to move at in public school. We recognized the stress is was putting on all of us. We questioned what we were gaining by sending them on to middle school to face that rushing and pressure. We decided to try a different tack.

Shanna holding a bearded dragon.

Megan sharing love with a snoozing milk snake.

And now that we are doing it--- I know it's the Right Thing.  I love being with them and understanding what they know and don't know, what they need and don't need. I have the resources, the patience and skills to do it and we are all better for the
 slower paced life it offers. The only thing is that I knew that I would have to take the time from somewhere and work was the only obvious place. I had to decide to let go of helping others outside my family- in my business. This was not an easy thing to do, but yet, a necessary one. By the time our son comes home, I hope to have created an easy rhythm of life that he can settle into. This will be my major focus for the next few months. Pull in further to my core, follow my instincts and my heart, eliminate distractions and keep only that which brings me joy and happiness.

I love to write and I love to share with others. I will continue to do so by posting on this blog about issues related to family, children, homeschooling and adoption, as well as organizing challenges, tips and ideas about living more simply and following my heart. Although I cannot take on new clients personally, maybe someone will be helped my my experiences and ideas.

Feel free to sign up for my mailing list so updates can come to your inbox, come often and comment.

A New Beginning

The new year offers a new beginning and isn't it wonderful that it happens every 365 days? We get a chance to put the past behind us, archive it -- if you will, and start again with a clean slate and a new attitude.

I am grateful for the opportunity. The past few months have been extremely busy and challenging for me. I took an intentional break from writing and working with clients in order to concentrate full time on helping my father and his partner downsize their individual homes into a beautiful shared apartment in an independent senior living community. This transition has not been easy or quick. We have sifted through two lifetimes of belongings, every one connected to a moment, a passion, a joy, a disappointment, a sorrow or a purpose. We have laughed, we have cried, we have hollered, hugged and apologized. It has been physically and emotionally exhausting.

It has required my soon-to-be 86 year old dad to let go of things he has done everyday for the last 50+ years. It's really hard for him and it's hard to watch. He is trying to find new purpose and as he says "figure out how to reinvent himself". He is understandably apprehensive and afraid. Yet, and I admire this deeply, he is also eager for the change to happen and is embracing it the best he can.

He is like a hermit crab who must leave his shell (but in this case, it's the shell that has grown too big!) and he needs to find another. So he is scurrying around vulnerable and unprotected as I help him sort, purge, plan and organize.

His partner, whom I have known for 15+ years and love dearly, has undergone an amazing transformation throughout this process. She started out feeling very overwhelmed and not really sure what she wanted or needed to keep or even how to begin. Now, she has developed a real confidence in her tastes, can quickly identify and express her choices and see logical categories for sorting and simplifying. Seeing her life become organized and streamlined has liberated her and she radiates happiness and excitement.

The end of this phase is finally in sight as their apartment nears completion. Soon a moving date will be confirmed and my dad will get to try out his new shell and see how it fits. Undoubtedly, it will feel strange and unfamiliar at first. It will take a while to stretch it in all the right ways, but I am sure it will feel so much better. He is worried that he won't ever find all of his stuff. I assured him that he will have lots of labels to guide him, as well a personalized tour! :) Stay tuned for updates as things progress!

Thank you to all of my clients who have patiently waited for me.

I promise to call as soon as I can.

I wish all of my family, friends and clients

a very, very Happy New Year.

May your New Beginning bring opportunities

to simplify and enjoy your lives.

Warmly,

Linda ~

"Things Will Often Look Worse Before They Get Better"

In the midst of the project

This is a quote from my welcome letter, once someone engages me as an organizer. I say it, because it's true. As we begin to sort through things and move them around, it can look as though things have exploded, similar to the big bang, when the universe began. This has to happen in order for things to come back together again, in a new, more functional order. Change requires change and it cannot happen without disruption.

My goal when working with clients is to help them to work through the transition of change with the minimal amount of stress, using a systematic approach and pacing. Even so, there is always a time during the project where things look worse, and then suddenly, once over the hump, begin to get better. It's important not to give up before that happens, or worse, not even begin the project because the idea of it is so overwhelming.

I have experienced this up close and personal this summer, as we embarked on the project of re-doing my 15 year old daughter's room. This was something she initiated and really took charge of and I was very happy to support her as she transitioned her room from childhood into sophisticated young adult. It involved lots of emotional sorting and purging and I watched her struggle with letting go of the concrete representations of her younger self to make room for her new, mature interests.

We purchased a new headboard and huge desk from Craig's list, which not only displaced her old furniture, but also commandeered the garage for several weeks as she began painting all her furniture to match. The contents of her room moved into every nook and cranny of the rest of the house. Everything came out of her dresser, nightstand, desk and closet to enable all the painting and the installation of her closet system, all of which, as you can imagine, created quite the chaos.

In addition, this summer has been a super busy one for our family. A visit from my mom for one month, hosting a young woman from Spain for another, overnight camp for the girls, summer school for the younger kids and me trying to work in between it all. Throw in several more projects, including installation of a fan in our downstairs bathroom, some much needed and long awaited major landscaping in our backyard, a new shed, rearing and tagging of 180 monarch caterpillars in our dining room and the rehabilitation and taming of our new rescue cat, Lucky, and you get the idea of how it was.

There have been several times this summer when I have felt very exhausted and cranky because of the crazy state of things, when there wasn't one room I could go into that did not have a mess of miscellaneous things that didn't belong there, epitomizing the proverbial "worse before better".

I coped by doing lots of deep breathing, some complaining (which always relieved me) and mostly by just giving in to the chaos. (Click here to read another post about Living with (Some) Chaos). Surprisingly, when I let go of my own expectations that things will be in control, I am able to push past it.

Finally, I am beginning to see the light at the end of many of the projects. It will still be a while before all the leftover debris is dealt with (extra furniture and items) from the transitions as I have to sort through a few more closets and the attic to make room for new things to store and purge out unneeded. For now, I am happy with the progress we have made and with my ability to cope during the chaos.

Here are the "better" photos at the tail end of my daughter's room re-do.

For help with any organizing project

simply call Linda, 716-631-5619.

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~ Counter-intuitive, I know, but it's a Blogger quirk

A Lesson In Life

 

 I was driving home from church in June, east on Sheridan Drive between Youngs and the fire station. A little way up, on the other side of the road, traffic was stopped, so I slowed down. I couldn't see what the problem was at first, but since I was the first car in my lane, I could see that about 60 geese were crossing the road!

Adults and babies of all sizes were sauntering across, in more or less straight lines, following each other but with gaps of changing length between the groups. Just when it seemed a car might squeeze through, another gaggle of geese started across. Four lanes of traffic were completely stopped and although I was anxious to get home, I was smiling to myself about the cuteness of the sight in front of me. I had one of my 10 year old daughters with me, in the backseat, and she, too, was enjoying the geese.

Suddenly, a big, black SUV pulled up in the center lane facing West. Two men, a young man maybe in his late 20s, and an older man, got out of the car and the younger man released his large brown dog from the backseat. His dog raced at the geese and chased them all out of the street. Chaos reigned as geese began running for their lives. I watched in horror, as this giant dog, teeth bared, overtook the geese as they got onto the sidewalk and killed a goose, five feet from my daughter's window.

Of course, as soon as this happened, two things occurred simultaneously. One, the traffic started moving because the geese were no longer blocking the road, and two, the terrified geese began to return to the other side of the street, to escape. This created more horrible chaos and I watched helplessly as geese of all ages honked and cried to protect themselves and their babies.

By this time, the man had caught his dog and I was quite close to him. I pulled forward and yelled to him "Why did you do that?  You could have waited like everyone else. They were doing just fine on their own. That was the cruelest thing I have ever seen!" He laughed at me and said "The goose is fine." I said "The goose is NOT fine, it's DEAD and your dog KILLED IT and I have my child in the car. He killed it right in front of her!" by that time I had to move on, as the traffic was clearing. I was so shaken up and my daughter kept asking me "What happened"? and "Why did he do that?"

I had no answer but that he was an arrogant man who wanted to prove himself to the world that he could take care of the problem. I was very close to home and found my husband and collapsed into tears of grief for the geese. I hadn't realized until that moment what I needed, but what I needed was to go back, to see what had happened to the geese.

He and my 19 year old son took me back and we found the dead goose, which we then realized was a baby. My husband and son gently picked him up in a box and took him back across the street and left him in the woods, while I mourned the innocence and fragility of life. We slowly drove down Sheridan wondering if any had been hit by cars as they were crossing.

Just at our street, we saw a solitary baby goose wandering alone, pecking at the grass. We realized that he had become separated from his flock and was unable to cross busy Sheridan Drive by himself. We knew we had to help him. My husband and son managed to catch him in a towel and we brought him into the van. My son held him on his lap and soothed him. We drove behind Wegmans and the AAA looking for his flock. We finally found them, far from the original crossing site, on a lake in the corporate park. We released him to his family, where about 30 baby geese were roosting with their parents. He quickly waddled off to rejoin them, welcomed back by the others.

I don't know who that young man was, but I hope he reads this or someone recognizes him and shares it. I hope he allows himself to acknowledge and regret his impulsive and careless decision to release his dog to "solve" the problem. Life is fragile and special in all of the earth's creatures and to hunt something down in cold blood is neither admirable nor brave. Everything we do has an impact on others and the world is a series of interconnected emotions and experiences. As my daughters learn in school, he should "Stop, Think, Go." I am grateful that each of my four children demonstrates empathy, compassion and patience; that they know that the response to bullying and violence is to stand by and protect the victim. I am grateful that my husband is a strong, sensitive, loving man who supports me unconditionally and doesn't hesitate to help when I say I want to rescue a baby goose. He just grabs the keys and joins me.

For help with any organizing project, including aligning the priorities in your life,

simply call Linda, 716-631-5619.

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~ Counter-intuitive, I know, but it's a Blogger quirk

Accomodating More When We Think We Can't

 

About two months ago, I was driving home from a client's home, with my van full of various rummage that I needed to drop off to charity, on my way to have some dental work. I was stopped at a light; the first car in the left lane. Across from me, I saw the traffic had stopped and what I saw surprised me. There was a bright orange cat, flinging himself back and forth in the street, obviously in distress. I realized that he couldn't move himself where he needed to go to get out of the street; as if  his brain wasn't making a connection with his body. I reacted immediately, without hesitation. I turned left into the side street, quickly parked my van and ran a few hundred yards down the street where the cat was desperately trying to survive. While I bent down to scoop him up, he looked right into my eyes. I could see them going back and forth, consistent with a concussion. He weakly hissed at me, which I of course ignored, and I rushed him back down the street and into my car. He quickly crawled under the front seat and fearfully peaked out at me. I said to him, "Cat, you have no idea how lucky you are"! After that, I sat and wondered what on earth I was going to do next.

I didn't need another cat. I already had two. I had a senior dog, two gerbils, two fish, and four children. Already a full house. I didn't want another cat. Except that here he was, in my car, looking at me as if to say "What's next?" So, I called the vet and said I was bringing over an injured cat. To make a long story short, he wasn't badly hurt. He had a nasty bump on his head which was swelling into a large egg, he had fleas and earmites and was filthy dirty and was an un-neutered male. Very stinky. He had lost several claws trying to grab the road to right himself. And we suspected that his tail was broken. He was obviously a street cat, wary and independent. But as cute as a button, and oh so grateful for the food, water and attention that we gave him.

Lucky, when he first arrived

Buffalo Humane helped us get him neutered and vaccinated and gave us a crate to borrow until he and our other pets adapted to him. It took lots of patience because he was a bit uncivilized, often biting and scratching us as though we were prey. The other cats were not too happy at first. It took about 6 weeks of slow isolation and integration before all the hissing died down. Poor Whisper, our shy senior whippet, still doesn't understand why the cat swats her every chance he gets. Plus, having upgraded to 4 litter boxes has created a challenge to our space, time (for scooping) and senses (of smell).

Whisper wondering why another cat came into her life.

This new cat has created chaos of a sort, but not entirely unwelcome and definitely not unneeded. He has bonded deeply with my 19 year old son, and they have a wonderful routine together, as they both like periods of deep relaxation and privacy during the day. At the same time, we find him constantly underfoot and racing to beat us to whichever room we are heading into next, then acting like he has been there all the while. He makes us smile with his silly kittenish behaviors and his endearing, soulful expressions. When we scratch him, while he only allows it above the shoulders, he pushes his head into our fingers as hard as he can.

Aptly, we named him Lucky, at first only because HE was lucky that I rescued him that day. But truthfully, we found out how lucky WE were for letting him into our life. He is truly a wonderful blessing and simply adds so much happiness to our home. And we are adjusting.

Even Whisper

 Just when I think I can't do one more thing, I find not only that I can, but that it's Good!

For help with any organizing project, including adjusting to changes in your life,

simply call Linda, 716-631-5619.

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~ Counter-intuitive, I know, but it's a Blogger quirk!

Kudos to Your Child!

Recently, my friend's 10 year old son did a wonderful job of presenting his part in a program at church. He spoke with such amazing grace and sensitivity that I was moved to write him a special note and acknowledge his contribution to the service. It reminded me of notes that had been written to my older children when they had shared of themselves in similar ways. My friend was touched and said the note was "one for the scrapbook". I shared with her something that was suggested to me, many years ago by a wise school staff person. 

I created a Kudos! book for each of my four children where I keep their paper mementos. Every time they receive a certificate of achievement or completion, I put it in a sheet protector (two documents per sleeve, front and back) inside this 3 ring binder. 

~ I just put about 50 of the sheet protectors inside so they are there when I need them.~

I keep things like certificates from swim lessons, sports participation, religious school, extra curricular clubs, honor roll and awards of achievement and excellence. I also include programs from special musical events and productions, samples of excellent work, poems and personal notes of acknowledgement and encouragement written to them by others. Each year, I include the class photo of the grade they are in.

A certificate from the beginning of his math path.

My kids have enjoyed collecting these mementos in one spot and over the years they love to look at them and see what they have done in the past. It is an excellent chronological sequence of their lives and when it came time for Matthew to apply to college, it was a helpful review of the many ways he was involved over the years. I am still adding to his today, after his induction into his college Math Honor Society!

Graduation from HS with 22 College Credits in Math

To access a free template like the one I made for my binders click here. It will open a window in Google Drive and you can download the template to edit in your word processor.

Notes: I recommend using higher quality binders and sheet protectors like the ones I linked to. Economy ones just don't feel as nice or hold up as well. The Kudos! book is going to be around for a long time, so the few extra dollars are well worth it!

For help with any organizing project,

simply call Linda, 716-631-5619.

Comments Welcome!
If the comment box is not visible, click on the "(No) Comments" link
~ Counter-intuitive, I know, but it's a Blogger quirk!

The Possibility of an Open Doorway, Pt 2

Last October, I wrote The Possibility of an Open Doorway. It was about my real life dream that we could create a doorway through the wall, linking our front hall to the family room. This has now become a reality and I am excited to share it with you! As I had hoped, it has truly increased the functionality of the house and connected everything together. It was a bit difficult at first, as our motor memory continued to route our bodies through the old traffic patterns, but after a few weeks it seemed as if it had always been there!

Another unexpected consequence was how disappointing the view of the family room was from the hallway. Now that the doorway was open, it became evident that change in that room was in order too. This spurred me on to rearrange, purge, consolidate and reorganize the family room so that it was both more attractive, more roomy AND more functional for our current family needs. But that is for a future post.

For now, let me praise my wonderful husband, Eric, who moved two water pipes, a baseboard and electrical lines to make this happen. I am so grateful and appreciative of all your hard work!! We still aren't quite finished. The walls need to be painted and the wooden step still needs to be installed, but it will get done eventually.

The beginnings of an idea

Opening up the wall, figuring out what's inside. The supervisors on hand for the demolition.

Breaking through the other side

Change can be hard. Temporary supports must be put into place while the old supports are removed and replaced.

The new view may not be as great as you want right away. Change begets change.

Eventually, it works out, better than ever!

And even when not perfectly complete, seems like it has always been that way.

I try to listen to that little voice in my head that suggests possibilities to me. Often, they result in wonderful surprises. Read Make Room for Joy, another time in which I listened to my inner voice and share the beautiful outcome.

Your turn. Tell me about a time you let

Possibility change your life!

For help with any organizing project,

simply call Linda, 716-631-5619.

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~ Counter-intuitive, I know, but it's a Blogger quirk!

Less is More: Capturing the Spirit of the Moment

Source: www.BrainyQuote.com

I have a dear friend from my church, who shared something with me this Sunday that really resonated. She gave me permission to share her experience, as we both agreed that it was something many of my readers may relate to.

She and her husband have 5 children under the age of 11, including two sets of twins. Christmas morning is always exciting and a bit chaotic, as you can imagine! This year, something happened that affected the whole mood. My friend and her husband couldn't find the camera.

At first she was disappointed, thinking that she would miss out on all their excitement, but then as their children began to come down the stairs to see the magic under the tree an interesting thing happened. My friend, who in previous years had always been focused on capturing the moment on camera, realized that she had to capture the moment in her mind! Instead of seeing her children's emotions through the lens and worrying about framing the perfect shots, she was able to be present with them in a way that she was not free to do before. She experienced Christmas morning in a totally different, deeper and more meaningful way! Christmas for her this time, had a relaxed and pure innocence focused on the Current Moment, and not on preserving the Past for some Future Moment.

I have had this same revelation many times, as I sort through my photos, digital now topping 15,000 over 12 years or so. So many of them are buried in folders, never being looked at. About 5 years ago, I began to be a lot more careful of what I preserved. I no longer felt compelled to take thousands of pictures, nor keep ones that are "outtakes". I try to be thoughtful of what I take, and make sure that I at least get one desired shot, and not worry about documenting every step of the event, or that everyone is perfectly ready for the photo! For example, on my son's recent 19th birthday, it was important to me to have a photo of us together so I made a special point to ask my husband to take it!

Another thing I have noticed, is when we go to school concerts (and my husband and I go to them all- (orchestra, band, choral), I always see parents (and often now- younger siblings) with their video cameras and ipads (sometimes blissfully unaware they are blocking the view of those behind them), dutifully recording every song that their child is featured in. I mean, it is wonderful to record a special song or a sample of the playing, but recording each and every concert in it's entirety seems a bit excessive and I often wonder how many times those lengthy videos are viewed again. While I don't grudge those parents their pride in their child, I just feel that listening to the music in the present and enjoying their child's performance without the lens has its merits and rewards!

The funny thing is that my friend and her husband realized later that they had their camera all along, it was just in a coat pocket, tucked away. It turned out that they both were glad it had been missing after all, as it showed them the Joy of the Present.

So, to quote my pastor of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Amherst, who this past Sunday quoted Albert Einstein as saying "Learn from Yesterday, Live for Today, Hope for Tomorrow".

And stayed tuned for my next post: Hope for Organizing 2014 photos!

For help with any organizing project,

simply call Linda, 716-631-5619.

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~ Counter-intuitive, I know, but it's a Blogger quirk!

Taming the Toys, Parts 2 & 3

Back in June 2012, I wrote the post Taming the Toys, Part 1, admittedly, a very tedious project of sorting out our sizeable Lego collection, in an effort to make them accessible and useable to my youngest two children. I realized that I never posted the final outcome of that project, as I was in the middle of the process when I shared it on the blog.

Pictured above is the result of all of my sorting. Three sets of K'nex, fifteen sets of Legos, plus a bin of leftover miscellaneous Legos that can be used for free building or extra parts. The sets are a variety of houses, fire equipment, motorcycles & vehicles, airplanes, etc. Very overwhelming when mixed together, but very useable when separated.

So... when my son came home on a break from college, he was able to go down to the basement and make this airplane with his little sister and all the parts were there.



This is what I have out for the girls to use on a regular basis. A small complete collection, with instructions that they can take to the tabletop and complete, some with, some without assistance. Just right for their level now, and I can easily switch out a new set whenever they want.

 This is how I store the extra sets, in a clear bin on the bottom of the closet, with some other building supplies such as Duplo blocks, Magnetix, Thomas the Train and wooden blocks. The top shelf is off limits as it is games for older kids and baby toys. The second shelf is also off limits as it is my party/entertaining supplies.

 Taming the Toys, Part 3

So the last few weekends, I had been feeling frustrated with my girls for not keeping the basement clean. I talked with them about it and found out that it was hard for them and their friends to put things away after they used them. It became clear during the conversation that they were overwhelmed with the amount of toys in the basement. We do clean out on a regular basis, but I realized that they were right. They had changed significantly since the last purge about 2 years ago, and many of the toys had remained, while older aged toys had come out and there was too much. So we set to work. I asked them what they liked to play the most. This was easy for them to answer, as make believe/doll play was at the top of their list. I also wanted them to have a space to watch a regular and yoga videos. Another important factor was that I wanted to have a space where I could exercise alone or with the girls.

 When the girls were younger (and shorter) I had purchased two plastic 5 shelf units and split them into 4 sections of shorter shelves (2, 2, 3 and 3), as seen in this older photo, below. Shanna is blocking the TV, but it is sitting on a shelf, behind her.

 
The first thing I did was to buy this TV table ($29 Sauder, on sale at Valu- no link available) and take my two existing shelving units (~$40 HDX @ Home Depot) and put them into a configuration of two 3 shelf units (and one two shelf unit- used in the exercise area), freeing up much needed floor space. We went through the toys and purged anything broken or missing, and anything they no longer played with. I decided if it was something I wanted to keep for my potential grandkids, and if not, we donated it. This step was not too difficult because of our regular purging. We were really down to mostly basics and keepers. Here is the result.

 

Doll clothes and accessories are in the two large bins on the right shelf. Kitchen and food are in the large bins on the left shelf. They like to play shopping and store a lot, so they take various empty boxes and bottles from our kitchen to use in play. Small toys, such as the doctor kit, Legos, small blocks and play phones live in the small bins on the left shelf. Musical instruments and a small camping set are on the top left and on the top right are empty boxes that the girls constantly use for doll beds, couches, lockers etc. On the bottom left are doll/people blankets and sleeping bags and on the bottom right are foam floor pads that are constantly being built into houses and cribs for the dolls. The stuffed animals live in the yellow duck laundry hamper. Backpacks and small purses live in a round laundry basket underneath the pinball machine (shown in picture of full room, below).

Almost everything can be used interchangeably and can be left out for a period of days, and then easily put back as everything is clearly labeled and fits into its container.

 Another essential piece was the creation of a school area. I had all the components scattered throughout the basement, and simply brought them all to a corner behind the pinball game. This created a little "room" which the girls are very excited about. They insisted they wanted "a locker" so I swapped spaces with them and put my entertaining supplies in the bigger closet and gave them the cabinet for their games and school supplies.



The final piece was the creation of the exercise area. This worked out really well. The balls were rolling all over the place, so I used some step stools that I had (upside down) to corral them. The square mirror was one I had stashed away in the attic and the full length will soon be hung on the wall. On the shelves (leftover from the reconfiguration of the 5 shelf units) in the bins are exercise clothing and gear, like resistance bands and workout routines. The weight rack was something I have had for a long time and is really useful. Here is a link to a similar rack on Amazon and another, slightly different.

 So here is the overall view of the basement. A manageable, inviting space where everything has it's place. The girls can take things out, combine things together and really enjoy their play.

 
 And the view from the other way. 

 For help with your playroom or any organizing project,

simply call Linda, 716-631-5619.

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~ Counter-intuitive, I know, but it's a Blogger quirk!

The Possiblity of an Open Doorway

 

I had an idea recently about a wall in our house. I just kept thinking that if only that wall had a doorway, it would allow us to walk from our front hall, through our family room and right into our back hall and laundry room, rather than having to walk all the way through the kitchen with several turns to navigate. If that wall were a doorway, we could walk right up the front staircase with the laundry baskets and it would be so much more pleasant! Plus, when we come in the house with all our stuff (primarily through the front door in the spring and summer) we could head right into the back hall to put things away, where there is more room.

I ran the idea by my husband, Eric, who has always dreamed of putting a stained glass window in that spot. Being a bit slow to warm up to my crazy ideas, it took a while to take root in his mind. Yesterday, when I came home from errands, I found that he had masked off a rectangular spot on the wall and drilled a tiny hole in the middle where we could see through to the family room. It surprised me, as the doorway on the one side did not quite match up to where I thought it would be on the other side! I thought it would be much closer to one side of the room, when it was really more centered! But I was happy to see the possibility start to take shape. He still put in his plug for a window, but I said he wouldn't be happy when he saw me climb through the window with the laundry baskets, and he agreed that he wouldn't.

Is there a place in your life where the possibility of an open doorway (real or figurative) would help you to make something easier in your life? Can you imagine it? If so, can you implement it? Sometimes, even just imagining the possibility can free up the physical energy needed to make it happen.

It's not going to be quick for our doorway to take shape, I know that it may take months for all the pieces to be started and finished, as there is electrical, baseboards and load bearing walls to contend with. But I am excited for the project to begin and am looking forward to the connection that the open doorway will provide!

Update! Click Here to read The Possibility of an Open Doorway, Pt 2!

For help with any organizing project,
simply call Linda, 716-631-5619.

Comments Welcome!

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please share by clicking on the "(No) Comments" link
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Ask Linda: How DO I Get Started?

Dear Linda,

I've had the pleasure of enjoying your helpful tips via email. Presently, I'm semi-retired; a substitute teacher, HOWEVER, after 32+ years as an educator enjoying my own organized classroom/office space; I continue in my home trying to declutter and organize that space. My husband and adult daughter also contribute to the clutter here; but tend to always address their own priorities which do not include helping me declutter our home. So, as a new school year begins, my emotions seem to be tested and I'm looking for tips on how to prioritize the decluttering task and let go of much STUFF! Looking forward to your email reply.


Dear Reader:

Thank you so much for contacting me. I totally sympathize with you. One of the hardest things to do is to conquer your own space, especially when you have to work with others who do not have the same need that you have for clearing out the clutter. Believe it or not, I struggle with this as well. The sheer thought of starting can be immobilizing and lead to even further procrastination. Adding to that, the need to motivate what I call "disbelievers" (that clutter is a problem) may seem insurmountable.

Well, having said that, I do have some encouragement and practical suggestions.

1. Start somewhere. It really doesn't much matter where, but I highly recommend picking a place that will make a great impact for you; and one that you deal with on a daily basis. For example, your kitchen, your "service" entryway, your desk, or even just your incoming paperwork. Whatever you pick, choose something that will make you happy once it is organized.


2. Use the Paper Towel Tube technique. Originally described by Judith Kolberg in Conquering Chronic Disorganization, looking through your rooms with a paper towel tube narrows your visual field of vision so that you can easily focus on a tiny area and begin to make an impact there. I recommend doing this through your home and when you alight on something that makes your heart skip a beat, consider starting there.


3.  After you have been working on your areas for a while, try to begin a conversation with your husband and daughter about how their clutter choices are affecting you. Try to come up with some mutually agreeable spaces that can remain clutter free, and some that they can keep the way they want. This may mean renegotiating how the spaces are currently divided up. Here is another post about helping my dad clear out his attic, which may be of interest.


4. If you want to get a jump start on your project, consider booking a 4 hour session with me. The first part of my initial session is an assessment phase, where I would help you define your mission and goals. I can also help you and your family work together as a team.

Thank you for your awesome question and for allowing me to share it with others!

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Can you relate to my reader? What is your experience with starting? Motivating others?

Please share by clicking on the "(No) Comments" link
~ Counter-intuitive, I know, but it's a Blogger quirk!

For help with getting started,
Simply call Linda, 716-631-5619.

The Dynamic Dining Room Table

Ready for a Family Dinner

I have a confession. While occasionally it looks like the above photo, most of the time I have stuff on my dining room table. Yes, stuff. I am sure that my readers are shocked, as one may have the bias to think that a Professional Organizer would have a perfectly clear table, shining and polished, at all times of the day or night. Maybe some do, it's just that it's simply not me, at least not at this stage of my life. I am not advocating right or wrong here; just sharing my experience from my little corner of the world.

Now let me clarify a bit with an explanation of the difference between static and dynamic, according to Dictionary.com:

Static: pertaining to or characterized by a fixed or stationary condition; showing little or no change; lacking movement, development, or vitality.

Dynamic: pertaining to or characterized by energy or effective action; vigorously active or forceful; energetic.

Our table after our recent camping trip.

Some tables are static. You know if you have one of these. It is the kind of table whose layers could tell you something of the way the the clutter formed. If one excavated, one may find fossilized papers or objects, long since disappeared from recent memory. This kind of table is rarely used for any kind of relationship building or nourishment, as it is nearly impossible to find the surface of the table in order to use it properly. Things on it are fixed in time, move very rarely, if ever, and lack the energy of change. If you are lucky enough to have a clutter free table, then static may be a good thing, and open the door to spontaneous activities allowing the use of the table top! But of course, if this is your situation, what are you doing reading an organizing blog..... (directed at my sister-in-law K, who I know reads religiously, and whose table is always ready for action!) ;-)

My table is far from static. Although there may be various piles of things on it, it is totally energetic in nature and reflects the current projects our family is involved in at any given time. For example, this summer, it has been the point place for the assembly of two large tri-folds of photos for my son's graduation party, the packing point for my three daughters' overnight camp sessions, the packing and unpacking of our family's camping trip in Canada, and this week is transitioning to the packing point for my son to go to college and the assembly of school supplies for the rest of the kids. For the past several years, during July and August the table has also been a caterpillar nursery and butterfly hatchery, although this year, the monarch's late arrival prevented us from hosting them (you can read about the caterpillars we have hatched in the past here, here and here). Throughout the summer, in between all the projects the table has often been cleared for friend & family gatherings to celebrate special occasions.

Packing for our first trip to China, in 2008, to adopt Megan!

Our dining room table is a special spot in our home. It is a place of energy and love, relationship building and achievement of goals. It is a place of sanctuary for things which are not quite finished, and things yet to be. It is Dynamic, not Static, and definitely not empty and polished!

Tell us about your dining room table. How does it function in your life and home? Does it work for you or is it a hindrance to your energy and goals? If it is a hindrance, imagine how it would feel to free it up!

For help with any organizing project, including freeing your dining room table,

Simply call Linda, 716-631-5619.

Feed Me!! (Please): A Plea From the Household Pets

Is anyone familiar with this scenario?

We have a hungry dog, hungry cats, hungry gerbils and hungry fish. We have LOTS of pets. We also have 6 potential feeders in the family. I ask endless questions of "Did anyone feed the ..." (insert here- cats, dog, fish, etc.). Whisper, pictured above, is polite, but she at least paces when hungry and gets underfoot. The cats will RUN towards the laundry room whenever anyone ventures to the back hall, also tripping us. They can advocate for their needs. The gerbils and fish are at our mercy. The cats and dog are also prone to asking for more than their normal portion. I never seemed to know if the animals got fed AND I didn't want to do it all myself.

So I decided to take action.

I designed the form below:

I added some magnets labeled with different colored dots,

one for each pet type, marked C, D, G, F;

and placed it on the fridge.

(Because our dog gets meds twice a day

I added smaller magnets in the same color for her,

to help track that, as well.)

Here is the end result; 

an easy to use,

easy to read record of which pets have eaten:

It will take a bit of training and encouragement to teach your family to consistently use this tool,
but your calm persistence will pay off in a few weeks.

For help with this or any other organizing project,

Simply call Linda, 716-631-5619.

Practical Shoe Storage

 Where do you keep a Mountain of shoes?

Source

We have TONS of shoes. No, not due to a shoe fetish. Or compulsive shopping. Simply 6 pairs of feet, 12 total, for each activity we engage in. We have sneakers, cleats, sandals, flip flops, dress shoes, cowboy boots, riding boots, winter boots, rain boots, and slippers. If piled in the family room, (which I do each year when sorting outgrown shoes) it makes a huge mountain of shoes. Unfortunately, I did not take a picture of it, which I meant to do and forgot. These are not, mine, just an internet image, but you get the gist. Just multiply it by about 4 times the pile.



So, rather than have that in my (very small) front foyer or (very narrow) mud room, I have come up with a few solutions that work for our family and will share them here. 

This basket lives in my front hall.

First, the simplest; a laundry basket placed close to the door. No, not lovely, but very functional. No, all shoes don't end up in it every time, but yes, I can toss them in a nanosecond and all looks tidy, plus a lot of the dirt from the shoes ends up in the basket and I can easily dump it out from time to time. The basket is pretty empty now, because most of the feet are at school or work, but even full, it is manageable. When it overflows I ask someone to empty it (or I do it myself) and the overflow goes to the other solutions described below. This basket is for our MFWS (most frequently worn shoes) and gets more play in the warmer months, when our entry is frequently through the front door.

Mud Room

The next solution is an Over-The-Door Vinyl Shoe Organizer. They can be purchased in various places, but I provided a link to Bed, Bath & Beyond. Again, not lovely, but highly functional. Some of you may know that I have twin 8 year old girls, and so have two pairs of every shoe for them. These organizers are only for the girls' shoes, and I have Megan keep hers on the left two columns, Shanna on the right two. (I try to keep this left/right pattern consistent for all of their storage, hooks, backpacks, toothbrushes, beds, etc.)

These hang in my back hall that enters the garage. We call it the mud room, although it is really just a hallway with a small cubby system. If you look closely, you can see that above the soccer cleats on the left side are also the shin guard and above them the soccer socks. This works out really well. In the winter, this whole organizer will become empty (due to seasonal gear and flip flops) and I will replace with hats, gloves and scarves for the family.

Entrance to Laundry Room

Here is another view of the hallway storage. Here you can see the boot trays (three of them, where we keep wet shoes and boots.

Beyond this door is the laundry room, where another solution lives.

Storage in Laundry Room

 This is the main storage place for everyday shoes for my husband and I, plus some extra sneakers and boots for all the kids. This is where we keep shoes for the garden, mowing the lawn and exercising. This Horizontal Organizer fits together in sets of two shelves, and is made by Closetmaid. It comes in two sizes, 24" and 31" and several colors. Pictured here are three sets of 31" and one set of 24" (to allow room for the taller boots on the side). I provided a link to Target, but I noticed they were on sale at our local Valu Home Center this week, through 9/22.

Outdoor Shoes in Garage

The next storage area is in the garage, where we keep the rain boots and winter boots until we need to wear them. During the winter, we keep them on trays in the mud room, but if not needed for long periods, they go out here.

Dressier Shoes, used occasionally

Finally, a bit of storage for our dressier shoes. This Closetmaid 15 Unit Organizer holds my and my husband's shoes. Each of my older two children have a couple of pairs of dress shoes in their closets, on one set of those 24" Horizontal Closetmaid Organizers. You may notice that most of my organizers are not filled to capacity. I highly recommend that you try to keep to this, as it is far more rewarding to live this way, than to constantly be trying to stuff shoes where they won't fit. See steps below and purchase a bit more storage than you think you will need.

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To get started with this project, I suggest the following steps:

1. First gather all your shoes to one room (don't forget to take a picture). You may want to put down a sheet first.
2. Then sort by person, and have each person try on (esp important for little ones who grow so fast).
3. Sort into piles: KEEP IN ACTIVE WEAR, DONATE, GROW INTO, and TRASH. Have the kids write out labels on scrap paper so the piles are obvious and the kids are involved.
4. Once shoes are sorted and purged by person, decide logical divisions your family's shoes (like frequency of use, sports, age group, etc.)
5. Decide where each category should live- measure spaces and decide what supplies are needed.
6. Purchase supplies or re-purpose from other parts of the house.
7. Put shoes away and offer brief training to other family members.
8. Pat self on back for job well done.

If you need help with this or any other organizing project, Simply call Linda, 716-631-5619.