Surf 'n Turf

If you've ever been to Prince Edward Island in the summer, you'll understand why I haven't been writing much lately. The last week has been absolutely beautiful, sunny and 28 degrees most days. That means one thing in our house - The Beach. So we've been beach bums for the last little while, enjoying the sun, sand and the surf.

On the not so great beach days, I've been cleaning, streamlining, throwing out anything remotely useless. It's all getting turfed. I went through Madeline's room a week ago with two garbage bags and a big Rubbermaid container. I filled them all. For some reason, she holds on to junky stuff and shoves it into the drawers under her bed. Stuff like pen lids and pieces of cut up paper, markers that have dried up, candy wrappers, Barbie doll heads and broken dollar store toys. And then there's the clothes. A typical day starts with me asking: "Maddie, are you dressed?"

Silence.

"Maddie? You OK hon?"

Maddie: *exasperated sigh, then whining* "I don't have anything to wear!!"

Some days, it's just a matter of going up to her room, issuing a stern warning and putting the clothes in front of her. Other days, she's already sitting on the floor, scowling at her dresser, rejecting every article of clothing I suggest. "I don't. have. anything!" she growls. Funny. I can never get the drawers open for all the clothing shoved inside.

So one day I started pulling out her drawers and tossing things into piles. I would simply hold up something and ask "Like it?" or "Does it fit?" Any hesitation on her part meant that the item in question was turfed into a bag, either to be donated or thrown out. No going back. After getting a large garbage bag full of clothing to be donated, a large garbage bag full of junk, and a Rubbermaid tote filled with books, her room finally looks neat. Her drawers (mysteriously) are still filled with clothes that she will actually wear, and she has room in the drawers under her bed now for other things that I will likely toss out some day.

Connor's room and the TV room have also received similar treatment. The result is a much cleaner, less cluttered looking house. I like it. It's so much easier to relax on the beach when you don't have to worry about cleaning a messy house when you get back. The only thing to clean is the sand, but that's another post for another day. Today we're off to the beach!