At the beginning of the “safer at home” executive order to slow the spread of COVID-19, it seemed my instagram feed was filled with friends who don’t have children either determined to take the time to KonMarie their homes, or raving about how they already had and could enjoy their clutter free environment. I admit that after seeing these posts I was a little jealous and a little ashamed because even though I read The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up before my first son was born, and watched Tidying Up over a year ago, here I was shortly after having my third kid and I never KonMaried my house beyond changing how I fold my clothes.
Fast forward a few weeks, and now have changed my tune. THANK GOODNESS I never KonMaried my house. I am so grateful. What would undoubtedly have been considered an embarrassingly large pencil supply had I tidied up my office a few months ago has been demolished over the last month of homeschooling. (Note to self- however many pencils teachers are asking us to bring in each school year, it is probably not enough…) Don’t even get me started on how fast we have gone through art supplies, especially crayons, colored pencils, and construction paper and honestly any kind of paper thanks to my son’s new found love of drawing.
I never KonMaried my house, and found myself singing praises to the travel size toiletries I never sorted through. They bridged the gap between running out of some essentials and the grocery stores having them back in stock. Then there are the various lotions I never thought I would go through fast enough that are now employed daily thanks to compulsive hand washing.
I never KonMaried my house, and those old shirts I’d been meaning to take to goodwill became make shift paper towels when we ran out. The leftover yarn that should have been discarded months ago after finishing the baby’s blanket became a new craft supply once we ran out of our regular stash. The stuff at the back of our pantry became an excuse to do a Chopped-style date night with my husband.
I though we were a family that was pretty good at using what we had in creative ways. I thought we were using things to their fullest before discarding as a means of wasting less. Living through this pandemic has taught me how much more innovative we could get. All the “clutter” that was once a source of shame has turned into a kind of adventure. And besides, no one is coming over to see my totally messy front room and office right now anyway…
