Back in the day when I had more energy and health, I was much more organized. I would move everything around from room to room. I would make the kitchen, front hall and living areas presentable,but the clutter was still there hidden in closets and bedrooms. I used to have two "spare rooms". Tee hee. Now I realize this was "ant" behavior. Moving the mess around. Altho my health is not real good, I am now retired from work, so I know after the holidays I will work on GETTING RID OF THINGS,not just moving them around.

Guilty of Ant Syndrome here. Certain doors get locked to cover up my sypmtoms. And why are kids attracted to the cleanest room? When the family room is just straightened up, suddely they want to get out the board game with the most pieces. As soon as the last dish is washed and counters wiped down, they are hungry! It's like sabatage. Do they wait until I put away the last dish then open the cabinet for a glass? Argh! Can I just enjoy a nice, neat room for a day?

When the family room is just straightened up, suddely they want to get out the board game with the most pieces.

Bcs there's room to move and to think, and you've made it an appealing room!

Do they wait until I put away the last dish then open the cabinet for a glass?

Bcs in the back of their minds, they were thirsty earlier; they just didn't want to interrupt you or get in your way when you were putting away dishes!

I do the "ant" thing sometimes, too--it's a sign there's just too much stuff--OR, more likely, that the storage space is full of "squatters"--things that don't actually get used but take up the storage space of stuff that *is* used.

Talley, you are giving them way too much benefit of the doubt. They are messing with my mind! ;o) The four of them get together each morning and plot the day's attack. One is the spy, waiting to see what chore I'm working on so the others can immediately undo it. So when I walk into a room and say "It looks like a bomb went off in here!" it's not far from the truth.

Of course, I'm kidding. It just feels that way sometimes. Days when I have a lot to do, I forget I stayed home to be a mom, not a housekeeper. And they are on Christmas break now, so I'm feeling the stress of a kid-crazy house while trying to finish up Christmas details.

"The one where you clean up one room and move everything that doesn't go into that room into the adjoining room and then you start on that room and you.....You know!"

When you are decluttering a room, don't just move the stuff to the next room. Take the time to drop the stuff into the room it belongs in. Don't bother sorting it out and storing it, just dump it close to the right place.

Lazygardens said:
"Take the time to drop the stuff into the room it belongs in. Don't bother sorting it out and storing it, just dump it close to the right place. "

OK, THAT is my problem. I'm more of a Busy Bee than an Ant. I'll buzz out to the living room, find something that belongs somewhere else, and find 10 other things to do while making my way back to the living room, LOL. Sometimes the room that ends up the cleanest is NOT the one I was working on!

Julie

I didn't declutter rooms. I decluttered closets and dressers. Anything with a drawer. Once those spots were opened up, the "ant" part went away because I had somewhere to put the stuff in the room where it needded to go.

Gloria