Something you may want to consider if you hire a pro to help you......have your husband take the kids. That will allow you to maximize your investment, instead of 'tending' to the children while he/she is there. Trust me, they are going to compete for the attention of the day, and I should think that would be horribly frustrating for everybody.

Good luck!

Barbara, also n. of Boston (Portland)

Exactly, you must get rid of the kids for the whole day. I remember one Saturday, DH took our two daughters to a Yankees baseball game. I knew they would be gone all day, he planned to bring them back after dusk, they would ceretainly fall asleep in the car on the drive home. I zipped around the house, by myself, got evereything sorted, organized, even cleaned. It was a wonderful day for all involved! Hiring a pro to help you is a fantastic plan!

Before hiring a pro, I would do intense purging first, on my own; then the pro can really help you put it together in an organized way.

i think to do all in combo is the right thing... purge first (not the easiest thing to do, but necessary unless willing to continue on with complete disorganization, resulting in clutter, resulting in stress, resulting in snipey/snarky mom), then have husband to take kids out of house and do a bunch on my own, then have pros come in (and kids out again).

I am going to try this route and the sooner the better!

First thing to do is try to get the toys under control!!!

oh, and two other things: first, thanks for your responses and second, i went to www.napo.net which is the National Assoc. of Professional Organizers website. They have a find a pro section and I was able to find several people in my area who I think would be good, one in particular that I think would be good for my situation (a pair of ladies who apparently each bring a lot, but different attributes to the table).... I will let you know when I hear from them. I am excited to be handling all of this and just hope that I can afford to hire them.

If you can or can't afford them do ask your husband to take the kids out for the day so you can concentrate on the task and not getting a drink for so and so. When ever I was doing something that needed all my attention when my kids were small my husband took them out even for a few hours. You can get so much done that way.

I have a group on MSN, though quite slow during the summer, for helping with organizing. I'm a bit obsessive about it and have a couple pages on getting started that should help you. I've added a link below. It's private, so you'll have to join, but if you mention I invited you (let me know you're nickname here) I'll accept your membership as soon as I see it. (they send me an email)

Here is a link that might be useful: Creatvive Minds are Seldom Tidy

justgotab, i tried to follow the link and something went wrong.... would have loved to have that info ... thanks for trying.

I ended up hiring the pair of ladies I mention above. I really enjoyed my phone conversation with one of the ladies and she seemed very amenable to working within my limited budget.

She and the other woman will come up on Monday for three hours and she says she thinks they can organize my laundry room, desk area and utility/toy walk in closet during this time. It will cost $375. I think it seems fair for two people's time. i will report on what I think after Monday if there is any interest.

thanks/

I've heard pros range from $65 to $100 per hour depending on where you live, their experience and your needs.

I agree, the kids and hubby need to be somewhere else so you can concentrate and get the most bang for your buck.

I've never used one because I usually find the info I need online. I found a really good organizing website that gives some good instructions on what to do and how to start. www.straighten-up-now.com The stuff under "Start Here" was particularly good.

I emailed the owner under her Contact Me page. She responded with some good FREE tips. She said that she just started the site, so information on particular project areas is "ongoing." I recently signed up for her free newsletter.

Hope this helpful!

Here is a link that might be useful: Straighten Up Now Home Organizing Link