So This is...STYLE?

Okay, perhaps this is a slight exaggeration....
Pixabay

The semester has ended. Piles of papers have left the flat surfaces in my house to be returned into the waiting hands of my students. Clutter is being replaced by Christmas decorations and the house is starting to take shape. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas and, little by little, it's getting a bit more organized around here as well.

Or at least it was.

Last Saturday, my daughter came home from college. This is typically cause for much celebration, especially when the visit is an extended one, and this time is no exception. Except...

She's going abroad next semester, so she brought her whole room with her.

Scratch that. She was on campus for an internship last summer and lived in a dorm with a full kitchen last semester. She brought a whole apartment (minus furniture) with her.

The big items went into storage near campus, but the small (and not-so-small) items are everywhere.
On the living room floor. On the kitchen counters. On the steps that connect our living room to the second floor of our house.

Typically, she does a drop and run in the mudroom but, since it's December, the Christmas tree (and her father's admonitions) have prevented this. While I appreciate the fact that this has eliminated the lovely vision of mostly washed pots and pans and plastic organizers beneath our Christmas tree, the sight of newly cleared spaces covered in piles raises my blood pressure and deflates my Christmas spirit.

I'm happy she's home. I'm happy she's home. I'm happy she's home.

Even if my baby steps in the right direction have taken a complete detour.

So, it seems that it's time to live by my own words, unless I want to eat them.

• Start with successes: Most of the clothing and shoes, along with some other assorted paraphernalia have made it upstairs into her room.
• Take small steps: One item (or armload) at a time, it will all make it to where it needs to go.
• Yes, it has a home: And, for as much of this stuff as possible, that will be her bedroom.
• Let it Go!: She's a pretty good downsizer, so I suspect she already thinned the piles before she packed the car. Now I just need to fight the urge to let it all go since that decision isn't mine to make.
• Easy Upkeep: Once it's all in the room where it belongs, my upkeep will be incredibly easy -- her stuff, her upkeep.

Annalise1988 via Pixabay

Since 'tis the season to be jolly, I'll try to exercise as much patience as possible and see that the most important (i.e. visible) places are cleared first. While the responsibility is hers, this is more problematic for me than for her, so I will pitch in, keeping in mind the important fact that I don't want her visit tarnished by arguments over where the gay apparel she'll be donning resides.

Fa la la la la, la la la...

La.