Guess That Is Not A Good Resolution

I was just about to resolve to organize my life. After all, January has been proclaimed "Organization Month" by the professional organizers association of America (or some such thing). Since I have too much stuff after the Holidays, it only seems natural to purge my closets, garage, and entire home of "stuff."  I hate clutter. I like my home to look like no one lives there. (Needless to say, with four kids that has been something of a challenge.) My quest for neatness is a bit of an obsession. I spend a good amount of time asking -- or nagging shall I say -- the kids to put their stuff away.

I can tolerate a Lego project, or a puzzle- as long as it is not on the dining room table. I used to think I had o.c.d., but four kids cured me of the need to disinfect toys, and have books in size order. I can handle messy baskets of stuff-- just do not mix the cars with the blocks.... So I clearly have my issues. But order is important with a large family. I need order. I feel out of sorts when my home is a wreck.

Then I read this article in the New York Times this morning. Yikes. Now there is an anti- anti clutter movement. No Container store for these folks. My husband has always argued that some degree of mess is a sign that things are being done. (His office is in a perpetual state of things getting done.) To me it is a sign of mess. I like the desk clean, with my photos at a certain angle. But according to this research, it sounds like I have an issue with the unpredictability of life. Okay, I am a neat freak, but really, this sounds serious. (My blood pressure is rising as I look at the table covered in projects- but it is vacation, and I am doing well, I have let it all stay here...) I am all for helping kids express their creativity, but when they are done being creative, they should put all that creativity neatly away
Luckily, my kids have a playroom. This is the place for all creative things to happen-- and I do not need to see it. I tried to create   a playroom that would always look Pottery Barn catalog ready. Then the kids wrote on the slip covers, and the walls.

I guess I want my life to be like the Pottery Barn Catalog--all neat and glossy. (I always try to have a seasonal center piece. ) I know that real life is filled with challenges, and is not predictable. But  my childhood was riddled with great dysfunction. (Like you could not have guessed that by now. ) I had no control of what was going on-- and my house, and life was a mess. I suppose my quest for the perfect , neat life stems from my younger years. But once again, I can not blame my now deceased parents for my need for an all white room. (I want white slip covered couches, but I think my kids are still too young...) If  re-folding the quilts, and straightening the pillows on my sofa make me feel better, is that so bad ? I suppose I could try to let some things go. I have never been zen, but perhaps my new years resolution could be , to focus on what really matters. A neat home is important to me, it just can not be the most important thing to me. Thanks New York times for saving me a trip to The Container Store.