{"id":129569,"date":"2016-01-29T07:06:59","date_gmt":"2016-01-29T14:06:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/01\/29\/cleaning-and-tidying-at-moms.html"},"modified":"2016-02-01T06:36:04","modified_gmt":"2016-02-01T13:36:04","slug":"cleaning-and-tidying-at-moms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/01\/29\/cleaning-and-tidying-at-moms.html","title":{"rendered":"Cleaning and Tidying at Mom's"},"content":{"rendered":"

So I've spent the week at my mom's house (one of the few bright sides of being unemployed is that I can take a lot of time off), helping her with some major tidying and cleaning out efforts. She knows that she won't be in this house forever — maybe no more than a few years — and the task of getting it ready to eventually move out is daunting after living here since 1978.<\/p>\n

I had some ideas before I came out, but one thing I did was buy her a copy of Marie Kondo's The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.<\/i> While the KonMari Method isn't wholly my cuppa, some basic principles she espouses are invaluable:<\/p>\n

1. Does object X bring you joy to have? (If not, why are you keeping it? Really? Can you say that with a straight face?)
2. Do you actually want to keep<\/i> object X? (Not, do you want to get rid of<\/i> it — approach it in a positive manner, as selecting the things you want to keep, and letting the other things fall away.)<\/p>\n

A lot of what we tackled was stuff that was there because it was there — books that had been picked up but never read, gifts that had been received but were tucked in bags or boxes in a closet, objects that might be useful some day but probably not. Stuff that others might find of use, but was not of any use here except to occupy cubic space. And it was all stuff that was, not-so-figuratively weighing Mom down, producing a paralysis about being able to do anything about it.<\/p>\n

The office closet was the biggest thing, followed by smaller tasks of gift boxes in another closet and the office book shelf.<\/p>\n

I can't show you the "before" pictures, under injunction of disinheritance, but the "after" pictures are what's amazingly cool. Mom did a hell<\/i> of a job culling down what she wanted to keep in these contexts, and committing to some future activities to follow up. We took four decent-sized boxes of books down to the library today to donate to the book shop there, and another box that Mom's donating to her church. We have a half-dozen bags of hazarai<\/i> going to a local charity tomorrow morning. We have a ton of paper, cardboard, etc., that will be recycled. There's a box of targeted items to give to others. I'm bringing a few things home in my carry-on, and my brother took a few things home with him.<\/p>\n

And, yes, I cracked the whip a lot during this, but only with honesty and a spirit of being helpful. And, also, no, this wasn't my long-planned revenge for all the times Mom told me to clean my room when I was growing up. (No, really!)<\/p>\n

All in all, it was a really successful trip, in terms of being able to help my mom here. And it was really neat being able to spend a week with her, both the going through of old stuff (e.g., boxes and envelopes full of photos) and just hanging out at night watching TV.<\/p>\n

Not sure if I'll be able to make it back here any time soon to help with other problematic locales in the house (I hope to be otherwise employed), but she's made a great start and will, I trust, carry on.<\/p>\n

Bravo, Mom.<\/p>\n

[Note: Any resemblance between Dave the Hard-Hearted and Cut-Throat Tidier at His Mom's House<\/i> and Dave the Inveterate Pack Rat at His Own House<\/i> is purely coincidental, and should not be used for purposes of mockery, I'm looking at you, Mom!]<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n
\n<\/a>\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

In Album 1\/29\/16<\/a><\/p>\n

View on Google+<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So I've spent the week at my mom's house (one of the few bright sides of being unemployed is that I can take a lot of time off), helping her with some major tidying and cleaning out efforts. She knows that she won't be in this house forever — maybe no more than a few … Continue reading “Cleaning and Tidying at Mom's”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":129570,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[106,36,69,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-129569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-plusposts","category-media-books","category-family","category-home-improvement"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/IMG_20160128_141834447_HDR.jpgimgmax=660.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":16545,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2010\/01\/16\/tweets-from-2010-01-16.html","url_meta":{"origin":129569,"position":0},"title":"Tweets from 2010-01-16","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 16-Jan-10 11:30pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Cleaning, cleaning, cleaning ... # Cleaning. Tidying. Fixing photos. Grumbling. Waiting for glog. #","rel":"","context":"In "~Tweets"","block_context":{"text":"~Tweets","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/tweets"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19927,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2011\/01\/22\/tweets-from-2011-01-22.html","url_meta":{"origin":129569,"position":1},"title":"Tweets from 2011-01-22","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 22-Jan-11 11:45pm","format":false,"excerpt":"And so Operation: Run Around Like a Lunatic Tidying the House for the Party Tonight BEGINS! # House looking distinctly tidier. Using cinnamon bread for fuel. Still, expect Tidying Frenzy will be good for a pound or two. Then party. # T-3 hours to Twelfth Night Party. The tension mounts!\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~Tweets"","block_context":{"text":"~Tweets","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/tweets"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15621,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/08\/20\/tweets-from-2009-08-20.html","url_meta":{"origin":129569,"position":2},"title":"Tweets from 2009-08-20","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 20-Aug-09 11:30pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Ready for action! # Got the house cleaning-people-ready last night. Much more tidying to do before Game Day on Saturday. # RT @pourmecoffee Partisanship is WORKING for the GOP. Is bipartisanship working for the Dems? http:\/\/bit.ly\/3X1gFh # Kitten at karate, Daddy taking a long walk. Alas, Mommy stuck at home\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~Tweets"","block_context":{"text":"~Tweets","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/tweets"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10659,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/11\/28\/roomus_interruptus.html","url_meta":{"origin":129569,"position":3},"title":"Roomus Interruptus","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 28-Nov-06 7:05pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Okay, first the bad news: Jim and Margie (and Ginger) didn't get the guest room completed. Now for the good news: With minimal tidying, we got both cars into the...","rel":"","context":"In "Home Improvement"","block_context":{"text":"Home Improvement","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/home-improvement"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21424,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2011\/07\/03\/tweets-from-2011-07-03.html","url_meta":{"origin":129569,"position":4},"title":"Tweets from 2011-07-03","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 3-Jul-11 10:45pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Now is the time when we run around like a lunatic tidying the place for guests. # Making progress in tidying, so time to tidy myself. Looks, btw, like it's going to be a scorcher today. A\/c FTW! # But maybe I'll tidy off the excessive Twitter digesting on my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~Tweets"","block_context":{"text":"~Tweets","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/tweets"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41473,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/03\/21\/arrival-of-in-laws-imminent.html","url_meta":{"origin":129569,"position":5},"title":"Arrival of in-laws: imminent! …","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 21-Mar-14 11:34am","format":false,"excerpt":"Arrival of in-laws: imminent! 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