Spring Cleaning?

With the weather as warm as it has been, I have this sudden urge to purge! I went through my clothes last night, 2 bags of clothing GONE. The kids clothes are today once Steve gets home from church. I don't think Steve will ever be ready to purge his clothing though, that always gets done behind his back! LOL

In my cleaning journey though what I really want to know is: how can one family accumulate so much PAPER!!! It seems the way our life is, both with therapy and school, my desks suddenly look like paper factories. There is always some note that comes home, or some document needed for therapy stuff. There are numerous reports, and updates. There are the kids crafts and phonics sheets. There are the regular bills too...even found some that I've been missing! I think I need someone to come over and help declutter my desk (or life?). Or better yet, someone out there needs to come up with a more proficient way of communicating. In this day and age, surely there is a better way than paper, couldn't we email?? No I suppose not, but in the mean time...what do I do with all this paper, and who has time to file it anyway? Ugh...

My mother recently gave me an ID holder and I often think of it. It reads "Dull women have immaculate houses". I've also read articles in magazines that kids need to be exposed to some germs in order to build up their immune systems. I often cling to information like this when I look around my house and think "geez, my house is a mess" but what I really should be thinking is: "I'm helping my children build their immune systems". There are definitely times that I wish I was able to keep a neater/cleaner house. Like that 5 min crunch before company comes over where all the clutter gets moved to somewhere else, dirty pots/pans get shoved into the ovens, rolltop desks get closed (boy I love that invention). I'd never be prepared if someone just showed up at my house for an impromtuu visit. My house often looks like a war zone. I wish I had that plaque that reads "my house isn't messy, it's just lived in".

I don't know if cleaning is just something I'm not good at, or if this is just a natural byproduct of having two children with special needs and a baby in the house. I've never been great at keeping a clean house, just ask my mom what my room looked like when I lived at home. But why do I feel pressure to keep the house immaculate? I feel like I have failed in some way, but I don't know to what degree, nor who I've failed. Maybe just myself...I don't know.

There are my thoughts...I have no idea why I felt the need to share them...but take it for whatever it's worth.