Drinking that KonMari Kool-Aid
Drinking that KonMari Kool-Aid
by AJ
I have always loved organizing! I remember as a little girl, organizing my dresser drawers, categorizing toys, etc. It is so satisfying to take a mess and put it in order. There is something about that feeling that you get right after cleaning your car, putting away all of your laundry, or organizing your closet. Each time, I can’t help but think “This is it! I’m the type of person who always has a clean car. I’ve really turned my life around. I'm basically a new person!” This naive, hopeless-romantic attitude lasts all of two weeks, because...well...
I felt those hopeless-romantic-organize-and-reorganize-butterflies again... "life changing" was in the title. I was REALLY going to do it this time! Ashley’s the name, a Tidy house is my game. KonMari Method Commence!!
So, I quickly read the book, chose the parts that would work for me, and got to work. Unfortunately, it doesn't work this way. The book even warns about this. You have to be all in. I decided to do the KonMari method MY way. I failed. I failed because doing the KonMari method MY way meant I didn’t follow the KonMari method. I basically just allowed the book to inspire me to organize again with new "techniques." Not how it works, people. This recent time- I'm seeing results, mainly because I'm actually following the steps as instructed!
Now, I know what you're thinking...
So the KonMari method, huh?
Life changing, huh?
Not buying it.
Doesn't this lady say that I have to throw away anything the doesn't "bring me joy?"
Well, a toilet bowl brush doesn't bring me joy, but I am NOT throwing it away...
Besides, I'm not into the whole minimalist thing.
I thought this was a "minimalist" thing at first too, but it absolutely is NOT! I think I was born more of a minimalist, but then raised by an organized, tidy maximalist. I like to think that I sit somewhere in the middle. I am in constant awe of my mother and how she manages to have ANYTHING and EVERYTHING on hand. I tell her that her house is like "Mary Poppins' bag." Somehow, everything has a place in her home, and it never feels cluttered, but the woman has stuff... She knew how to Marie Kondo before Marie Kondo did. Somehow she knows what to keep and what to throw away. She is a professional "keeper." I'm a professional put it in a box, and look at it once or twice a year when I decide to "organize."
Well, last year, after I "tried" and failed, the books sat collecting dust on a shelf...and then another shelf, because well, like I said- organize, reorganize...
It wasn't until the cosmos aligned earlier this year with the release of the Marie Kondo Netflix special and our wedding anniversary. Kyle and I were married on New Year's Eve, and it is our tradition to celebrate our anniversary with a date where we set goals for ourselves individually, as parents, and as partners. It was crazy that one of our biggest discussions was centered on feelings of guilt and disgust with how we saw stuff affecting our children and the culture of our home (more on that below). Later that same night, I turned on Marie Kondo's Netflix special.
Now, while most of these people had A LOT more clutter than our home, the first episode really spoke to me, maybe because they had small children or maybe because their sentiments echoed (sometimes word for word) our conversation at dinner. We were feeling smothered by stuff. Meaningless stuff. Watching Marie Kondo show this couple how to basically "cleanse" their home of unnecessary and unwanted stuff struck a chord with me. Then a few days later it happened again...
After Christmas, we were so busy driving here and there that nearly all of our girls' gifts didn't get put away for over a week. It was so disheartening to see the amount of toys they received, yet they were still "bored" and asking to watch a screen. Kyle and I had many conversations about what to do with their toys, but it wasn't until the girls and I dropped by the library one day after school that I saw something that changed everything. I watched Ellie play with six random pieces of plastic food and a dinosaur for. an. hour. She didn't complain about being bored, and she didn't even ask me to join her. She was happy with what she had...a small assortment of toys and her imagination! Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner! Limited choices!
It got me thinking- what are we doing to our children? We want them to have all their little hearts desire, but at what cost? After recounting to Kyle what had happened at the library, we got to work on shifting the culture of our home by limiting the "stuff" that our girls had access to. We talked with them about the importance of donating toys that they no longer used, even nearly new ones, so that other kids could enjoy them. The girls went through all of the toys with us. If we found multiples of certain toys, the girls got their pick. Eventually, they started to get excited at the idea of other kids playing with toys they might not enjoy anymore. I swear, for a few days after our big purge, Ellie and Olivia kept asking to go through more toys to donate to other kids. This was a good start, but we weren't done.
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| After toy donating, but before Kenmore |
Once we finished this step, Kyle and I got to work hiding our kids' toys, at least temporarily. I'm sure many of you reading this have heard of, or even practiced, rotating toys- and there is a reason! It is genius! Old, unwanted toys become new again when they are out of sight and out of mind. I will post on how we ended up organizing the girls' toys and playroom using the KonMari method- it is cheap and easy! It has also been easy to maintain! Check back soon!
I'm so thankful that this "tidying" session with our children was the
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