Hope for the Disorganized Mom

Welcome to 31 Days of Hope for Moms! To see all the posts in the series, click here!

This is what my kitchen looks like on a daily basis.

That’s not so bad, you say. But let me tell you what our house is really like more often than I’d care to admit. This is a plaque that hung on my grandparents’ wall for years (they had 10 children) and it’s a pretty accurate representation of our home some days!

Many of my friends mistakenly believe that I have everything together and am super organized, but it’s simply not true! I tend to be rather spontaneous, a dreamer and a bit flighty at times. I crave routine but don’t like to be put into a box and forced to do something I don’t want to do. This, unfortunately, can make our lives and home disorganized.

To be fair, we don’t live in a pigsty. Our house does get at least somewhat cleaned up at the end of the day and the floors are safe and clear. There are no boxes piled to the ceiling in the corners and no sharp knives laying out or anything like that.

But there are a lot of times I can’t find what I want or we just shove items into our bedroom because company is coming and we don’t have time to put everything away. Drawers overflow and laundry baskets are heaping. Toys are mixed and matched and there is sometimes food literally falling out of the pantry when I open it!

Disorganization, whether physical or mental, makes for a crabby mom and a not-so-peaceful home. I truly believe that if you are a person who has a difficult time living in a messy environment or not being “mentally organized” without having a breakdown, a change needs to be made for the good of your family. Don’t let your messes control you and make you emotionally frustrated!

But where to start? Scripture tells us:

Let all things be done decently and in order. 1 Corinthians 14:40

God is a God of peace, not of disorder. We are called upon to strive for a peaceful home for our families and part of that is keeping it clean{ish} and {somewhat} organized.

Does this mean that we are a good mom ONLY if our house is perfectly spotless and everything is in its place all the time? Of course not. But something I’ve realized after having my fourth child is that I need to rethink my organization and cleaning strategy–I can no longer completely fly by the seat of my pants!

I believe that there are three stumbling blocks that keep us from finding a cleaning and organizational routine that works:

1. Not having the time or energy to mentally process everything we need to do and how it needs to get done. Beyond the physical disorganization of a house sometimes I think it’s more of a disorganization of my thoughts. Do you ever feel that way? That you are so caught up in the moment to moment events that you just don’t have time to think straight?

2. Thinking we need a complicated system, full homemaking binder or daily three-hour cleaning session to be properly organized. I have been so guilty of getting excited about and downloading the latest homemaking “system”…and then promptly never using it. I have finally determined that what is meant to make my life easier {because there are some amazing homemaking binders out there!} just makes things more problematic and stops me from actually becoming organized.

3. Thinking what worked for us in the past will work for us currently in the area of home and life organization. Depending on your season of life, your organization needs will be ever changing! All systems must change to fit the needs of their participants, and that includes homemaking! The laid-back methods that worked for my husband and I when we had 2 children no longer meet our needs with four little ones. We need to find a new system and discover a new approach to taking care of our home and simplifying our lives. This takes time.

In part 2, I’m going to share with you five basic and simple tasks you can complete that will help you finally clear those three hurdles that hold you back from organizing your home and family life, plus my top absolute favorite resources that will get you on your journey to a more peaceful home.

These tasks won’t be instant fixes but instead they will be lasting changes! And isn’t that what we all want? Plans and suggestions that actually work?

I thought so :)