I have one or two big Disney World related posts I’d like to share and honestly was hoping to have put together by now, but time has gotten away from me.  I thought I’d take a moment this week to check in in an effort to *keep it real* here on my blog.  My office has been an absolute nightmare lately and in complete disarray for the most part.  I think this is an accurate reflection of how I’ve felt about my posting lately: not very organized and completely haphazard.  I’d like to feel as if there’s more structure to it, but letting myself go with the flow has been an important lesson over the past year as I find my balance with my new role as a mother in addition to the other parts I play.  Things are getting out of hand on my desk, however, and it’s about time I stopped and did a reality check of the situation.

Yikes!  Yes, that is a real time photo of my desk.  It’s been that way for longer than I care to admit and more and more keeps getting piled on.  The other surfaces in my office (and there are many!) look similar and the closet…well, let’s just say it’s hazardous to your health to go in there right now.  It’s easy to imagine from looking at perfect Instagram photos and immaculate home tours on blogs and in videos that some people just have it together all of the time.  And perhaps there are some that do.  I am not one of those people.  Yes, I like a neat home and I do my best to keep the majority of our house as tidy as possible on a daily basis, but it is never 100% organized at any one time.  Not even close!

I, too, catch myself swooning at beautiful photos of impeccable desk tops, pantries, closets, etc and sometimes can’t help but feel a little bit “less than” because my own spaces rarely reflect such order even though I consider myself a pretty organized person.  The truth is, life happens and there are only so many hours in a day.  If I have to choose between reorganizing my pantry to keep it ship shape or spending that time on the floor playing with my daughter, I always choose the latter.  And in the spirit of honest sharing, sometimes it’s a choice between organizing and sitting down with a cup of tea and a Pottery Barn catalogue.  Most of the time I feel like Inspector Gadget with my arms and legs whirling around a thousand miles a minute trying to get it all done, but even the busiest bee needs to sit down and take a breather once in awhile.

Precious nap time is split between basic household to-do’s like laundry and picking up and trying to keep up with my content.  This means there are some extremely neglected areas of my house right now, especially my office.  I know I’ve talked before about how it’s always the last area I devote time to keeping tidy, perhaps because it’s mainly a space just for me and it feels like I should prioritize the common areas more (my daughter, Charlotte, does spend time in my office when I am brushing our Shih Tzu, Winnie, every day so I do keep the floor and lower shelves pristine for her).  Honestly, though, I struggled with having untidy parts of my house that felt difficult to keep up with before I had a child, too.  It’s just a part of who I am: mostly organized (or pretty neat – yes, I went there). 😉

I’ve gotten better over the past year at cutting myself slack for not having it all together when it comes to maintaining order in my home.  Our first level is usually quite clean and I spend most of my daily efforts picking up and spot cleaning to keep it that way.  Charlotte’s room is also a priority for me in keeping tidy.  Our bedroom is pretty close, although there is an endless rotation of piles on our bureau that I can’t seem to keep clear for more than a day at a time.  The basement, garage, our closet, and my office, however, are a different story.  Let me paint you a picture…

The laundry room, which doubles as our main storage space, needs some serious attention.  I’ve spent the last year sorting and purging decor to make room and what remains is stacked randomly as I need to find dedicated space for baby things Charlotte has outgrown that we’d like to save for a possible future baby.  I long gave up on Don’s office ever being in any state of order.  It’s his space and I let it be whatever that is for him (he likes to joke that he organizes “chronologically by height” – aka piles upon piles).  The garage is overrun by bins from a mudroom renovation project we completed earlier in the year that I have yet to organize.  Our closet has been taken over by bins of maternity and baby clothes I’m tucking away just in case.  And my office?  Well, if a picture says a thousand words, the one above shows a thousand things.  I need to make a dedicated and organized space for my memory keeping projects that is also readily accessible since I work on them any spare moment I can.

Our main living spaces are not overrun by clutter.  On the contrary, they’re quite neat and livable, but also comfortable and welcoming.  I like that my personal feelings about an organized home have become less rigid over the years.  I function best when there is a place for everything, but I don’t feel like it has to be exactly a certain way all of the time.  I’m more flexible about implementing home organization systems.  I focus on functionality as opposed to the aesthetic.  For example, it makes sense to leave some of my daughter’s toys out in the family room all of the time, because she plays with them every day.  Our home feels more lived in and loved in than ever, and that makes it much more beautiful in my eyes than if it were picture perfect all of the time.

I know I need to make some time for the garage, the basement, our closet, and my office, but I also know it’s not absolutely necessary for me to do so right away.  Is it the end of the world if my desk looks like a scrapbooking bomb went off on it for another week or even month?  No.  As long as my family is safe, happy, and healthy, that’s what matters most.  I am not defined by the messes that are part of my life right now.  It does not make me less of a mother, wife, content creator, woman – human – to not have my sh*t together all of the time.  I can enjoy the beautiful organizational work of others shared online without being hard on myself for my home not reflecting perfect orderliness as well.

I am doing the best that I can every day and that is the best I can do.  That’s been my motto since becoming a mother and it means a lot to me as a recovering perfectionist.  Yes, I’ll continue to cringe at the spaces that need more attention until I finally get to them, but I no longer let them define me as “less than.”  Sometimes I still need to organize something to feel grounded again.  These days, however, those few minutes spent enjoying a cup of tea and the latest Pottery Barn catalogue with my pup curled up by my side while my baby rests bring me the most peace.  I relish them before my Go-Go Gadget arms and legs start whirling at break-neck speed once again.

What are your favorite ways to calm your mind and soothe your soul?  I’d love to know if you care to share.
I hope you can find some peace today, even if only for a moment. ❤️