Confessions of an IT Girl

I’m really not one for making new year’s resolutions.  But sometimes, it just feels right.

Like most parents, I spend a lot of time nagging Soccer Girl to clean up her room.  And like any 12 year old, she loathes me for it.

I get it, I really do.  I’m not a neatnik in the least – far more Oscar than Felix, to the chagrin of my husband.  I always tell him it was easy for him to grow up in a neat house because his mom didn’t work and had part time help.  The family members who poked fun at my sloppy nature also didn’t work full time.  Valid explainations or excuses, you be the judge.

It occured to me during one of my tirades against the messy tween room that sometimes you have to be your own best example.  That my constantly nagging her to be neater was juxtaposed with my near-hoarder lifestyle and it just wasn’t adding up.  If I wanted her to be neater, gosh darn it, I needed to make a step in that direction as well.

So, during the days I was off work, the purge began.  It isn’t over by a long shot, but little by little I’m going to get there.  I’ve always dreamed that if I got a room clean,  it would be easier to keep it clean.  Now is the time to put that theory to the test.

There were a couple of things that really worked for me.

1. Put aside 90% of your sentimentality.  I don’t need to save every single thing that the kids bring home from school.  Only the best stuff.  You have permission to be picky.

2.  Everything has a place – find a place for everything.  For example – I needed room for all the CSE and medical paperwork for the kids, but the kitchen table wasn’t working.  The basket I keep stuff in on the bookcase is stuffed to the gills.  There is a desk in the den, but it houses a giant computer.  I decided that since Soccer Girl has her own computer, and Mr. IT and I use the one in the guest room, we’d get rid of the computer.  That freed up the desk, and I am planning to use it to store and organize paperwork and other things I need to find quickly and act on.

3. My friend Jen (who would faint if she entered my house) said something that really stuck with me.  If you come up with the right system of organization, everyone in the family can and should be expected to maintain it.  Don’t think this has to be all you all the time.  Everyone should pitch in – it’s a lot easier to keep a house clean if everyone has the same goal and puts effort into it.

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Disclosure: I wrote this post while participating in an Inspiring Social Media campaign for Trop50.  I received a gift card for my participation, but I was not asked what to write and my opinions are my own.   Soccer Girl and I are huge fans of Trop50 juice beverages so the coupons are going to come in handy!

Photo courtesy of ninasaurusrex