I’ve always enjoyed January. To me, it’s a peaceful month. A nice calm change from the frantic energy of the holiday season. It’s a time of renewal, a time for looking forward into a brand new year full of infinite possibilities. Except…now that I’m a mother, January has instead become the month when I try to look forward with excitement and anticipation, and instead stumble over piles and piles of junk.

You parents know what I mean.

Along with kids comes stuff. A whole lot of stuff. When you have a small child or two living with you, your home suddenly becomes filled with toys and books and toys and art supplies and toys and clothes and still more toys. And naturally, in the course of the day, all that stuff finds its way all over the house. (And if you have a son like mine, who delights in dumping out anything and everything he can get his little hands on, most of all that stuff ends up on the floor.)

It takes a certain level of commitment and skill in the housework area to keep up with All The Stuff, but it can be done! That is, until January rolls around.

You see, January falls directly after December. December. That magical, glorious month filled to the brim with parties and food and fun, during which every (well-meaning) person you know will give your child More. Stuff. You can begin to see the problem…

Once the excitement of the holidays wanes a bit, all those fabulous new gifts start to lose a bit of their sparkle as well. And as January stretches on it begins to dawn on you that no matter how tidy a pile you’ve made along the baseboard in the living room, eventually you are going to have to find the new stuff a permanent home.

Except…you’ve already got all that OLD stuff!

That’s why this year, I’m hitting the ground running. January has barely begun and already I’ve been purging and sorting and preparing to make a MAJOR donation to our local thrift shop. While the kiddos are still happily distracted by their brand new things, I’m in the other room clearing space on our shelves, hoping to make a bit of room for some New Year anticipation and some calm, peaceful renewal.

Now. If I could just get them to put their new toys away in all that new space…

Posted by Shannon, a Dot-arilla Blogger