As spring faded into summer, we dove headfirst into swim teams and various camps. Each time my daughter, Lily, reminded me about the desk I promised her, I would respond, “There’s just not enough time!” Her sigh of exasperation said it all.
Fast forward to last Saturday, the first morning we had completely free. Lily woke up early, determined to make a change. When I finally emerged from my slumber, I found her already deep into the project, having cleared and “rearranged” her room, leaving piles of stuff scattered everywhere. This was definitely not how I envisioned my morning.
Two hours later, we had managed to pack away her American Girl dolls, their outfits, and all the assorted furniture. We sifted through years’ worth of clothes and toys that had been hidden under her bed or crammed into her closet. Unfortunately, our efforts had transformed her room into a larger disaster zone, with containers and furniture spilling into the hallway. Fantastic.
With time running out, we abandoned the chaos and spent the rest of the day out of the house. By the time we returned around 10 PM, it felt like navigating a construction site as Lily and her friend climbed over the mess to get to bed. “Mom, can you please clean out your desk tomorrow so I can use it?” she pleaded.
I sighed and replied, “We have church all day, but I’ll tackle it tomorrow night.” I couldn’t stand the disarray for another day, but there was no way around it; I had to wait.
The next afternoon, I approached the task, thinking it would be a simple endeavor since my desk was quite small. I began removing the piles of books, paperwork, and pictures littering the surface. As I dug into the cubbies beneath, I found myself sorting through old medical documents, letters to my kids, bank statements, and past job evaluations.
Sitting on my bedroom floor, I created several neat piles: trash, recycle, keep, and those designated for my bookshelves. I started strong, but soon realized I was in for a much larger project than anticipated. What to do with all these papers? I had a brilliant idea—if I cleared out the medicine shelves in my armoire, I could store them there!
Upon opening the armoire, I discovered several bottles of expired medications from as far back as 2012. I had to sort and eliminate the mountain of old pills and bottles. While rummaging through, I also stumbled upon some forgotten jewelry boxes, which led me down memory lane, reflecting on when I wore each piece.
Excited, I took my newfound treasures to my main jewelry box, only to find it couldn’t accommodate any more. So, I began cleaning out that box as well, tossing aside outdated earrings and tarnished rings from my college years.
Afterward, I came across an old pair of Lily’s kindergarten glasses! What a delightful find. I rushed to her room and pulled out the bin of her old keepsakes, intending to place the glasses inside. Spotting her large dress-up clothes bin, I thought, “She doesn’t dress up anymore. This needs to go.” I dragged the tub to the hallway, making space for all the other clutter.
As I cleaned, I also noticed the closet floor was disgustingly dusty. I decided to remove everything from her closet to clean that area. When I returned to gather books from my desk for the guest room bookshelves, I realized I had no space left. Rearranging the frames might create room, I thought. As I did so, I found a stash of church CDs on a lower shelf, which I decided to organize as well.
By the end of the day, I had created yet more piles: frames, CDs, papers, toy bins, and books that needed sorting. Four hours in, I was left dazed by the whirlwind of activity. I made several trips to dispose of the trash and recycling but left behind the jewelry, frames, CDs, papers, toy bins, and the rest.
My house was entirely in disarray. But on the bright side? That desk was finally cleared out.
This article was originally published on Aug. 10, 2015.
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Summary:
In the chaos of spring cleaning, a simple task of clearing out a desk spirals into a full-scale project, illustrating how one small endeavor can lead to a whirlwind of organizing and decluttering. As piles of items accumulate, the challenge of sorting through years of belongings highlights the often overwhelming nature of home projects.