Operation Barrett De-clutter

Our house was pretty organized and put together before we had Brady. I have tried to keep it that way since, but some how it got out of hand. I have done well on a few things like packing up and organizing the clothes he has grown out of and keeping things in sight clean and put away. However, if you open ANY of our closets, cabinets, or drawers, you will see mass chaos! So, I have made it my mission, while spending my days at home, to get this under control.


I started by making a monster of a to do list. Seriously, it is so so so long. I won't bore you by listing the actual list, but I will show you a picture of the list.

 Yep, that's 3 pages! There is a lot to do.

 I knew I needed to purge, de-clutter, and deep clean several areas of our house, but I had no idea how bad it really was until I got started.  For example, my first project was to clean out the pantry. I pulled everything out. I found 4 bags of brown sugar, 6 cans of Rotel tomatoes, 5 bags of flour, and 2 open boxes of Bisquick and many other duplicate items like 5 cans of chicken broth. Really. Out of control is kind of an understatement! There may have been a thick layer of dust and some spiders hanging out as well.

I know. I. am. ashamed.

Cleaned out pantry. I promise it is looks much better.



Brady's closet. I added the bins at the top, they all have a different category of toys. This is also much better. It had become an enter at your own risk situation.

 I moved all the toys to the closet or this corner. Much more practical.



  Then when I cleaned out under my sink in my bathroom. I found a necklace and some  bracelets with the tags still attached that I do not remember buying! I also found some unopened deodorant and shower gel I didn't know I had. It is exciting, but I also felt guilty because I let it get that bad.






 So, this is my goal in a nutshell to accomplish while at home. So far, I have thrown out about 4 bags of trash total and have a couple to donate. It is a pretty good feeling, but seems like it takes forever.  I have a feeling by the time I finish all of this, it will be time to start over. Such is life.

Little Helper

Brady is really into helping right now. Give him a task and he is on it! I am trying to use this to my full advantage and to teach him.  I have been giving him jobs like put away his shoes, pick up toys, throw away trash, wipe up messes, and stirring batter or other foods.

The other night I was doing laundry when I heard that all too familiar pitter patter coming at me. My first instinct was to hurry and finish what I was doing. Brady got there before I could finish and looked at me and said, "I help".  He began putting all the clothes in the wash. I stopped him and told him we are only washing white clothes right now. So he began to pull out all the white clothes and put them in the washing machine.

 I am not sure why I was so surprised. I know he knows his colors and he understands a lot of what I tell him. Nevertheless, I was still surprised he could put it all together.

He separated the colors from the white clothes.

Then put the whites in the wash.

Then he had to help with the detergent. It was a little tricky!

We got it and Brady poured it in. Then he pushed the "butt" or button as every one else would say.

I hope his interest in helping phase stays around for a while!