Messies

Having just come from my daughter's house I've come to the conclusion that not only do messies live in chaos, they also spend money needlessly because they don't know what they already have. 

Let me preface my remarks by saying that she was not raised in a messy house.  Nor do I want to blame my wonderful son-in-law who was also not raised in a messy house.  I don't know what has caused them to not put things away, not pick up newspapers, load the sink with dirty dishes until someone decides to put them in the dishwasher (speaking of dirty dishes, how much trouble is it to rinse a dish when you're done with it?), fold towels before putting them in the linen closet, etc., etc. etc.   You get the picture.

Last week as I was staying with her as she recuperates from surgery,we tackled some of the messy places.  First, the rather narrow, but deep pantry in the kitchen.  We found 8 jars of BBQ sauce, 4 boxes of unopened popcorn plus one that was opened, 5 bottles of olive oil, countless cans of beans (black, red, baked, refried).  She was so inspired that she made labels for each of the shelves with what was on that shelf.  Next we delved into the linen closet.  It is upstairs and she is unable to navigate those stairs yet, so I pulled things out of the closet and asked her what to do with them.  Three therma blankets with holes or snags in them were either thrown or given to charity, towels stacked so we know where to grab a hand towel, wash cloth, or bath towel.  As soon as she can climb stairs she's going to label those shelves.  Beware - anyone who dares to mess with them again! 

Next we tackled the laundry area.  Again, about 6 containers of rug spot remover, 8 bottles of various sizes of hand sanitizer, 4 boxes of Bounce, and three boxes of "rags to clean with". 

I wonder how long this will last. 

I learned a long time ago when I was teaching "Stress Management" classes to "put away, don't put down". 

Messies don't want to admit it, but the messes they live with do cause stress - they just don't know how to cope with it.  Given enough time, the messes grow to the point that the job of straightening everything out becomes a daunting task.