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If you haven't heard much from the proverbial "Universe" lately, it's because it has been busy trying to convince me to give up on my current situation. And by "situation" I mean pretending to be a functioning adult. I know, sounds uncharacteristic of the love-spreading Universe, but I think of it as the Universe patting me on the shoulder saying, "It's okay Anna, there's a place for people like you in society. That place just might not be in your current situation."
Skeptics will say the Universe doesn't really give signs but I can prove it. Here are three demoralizing experiences I've had just recently that are clear signs the Universe is messaging me:
1. My neighbor's beagle keeps whining at my door not because she loves me or wants to play and not because she is just checking in to see if I need something from the grocery store, but because she knows I always have crumbs on my floor. It's a snowballing problem, because why would I choose now to start sweeping when I have a free borrow-a-beagle to do it for me?
2. I bought new shorts that were not denim for once. I've never been a fan of cargo shorts, but I made an exception because they looked pretty D cute. Not five minutes after putting them on, my five-year-old daughter asks me why I'm wearing "Dad's shorts". I scoffed momentarily and then walked outside to check on my three-year-old son who greeted me with, "Why you way-wing dad's showts?"
3. I assume in an attempt to compensate for my beagle borrowing, the Universe sometimes entices my three-year-old to sneak out and knock on my neighbor's door to request cereal, popsicles, or time on their trampoline. I'm sure he eats crumbs off their floor too and that's really why they don't shoo him away. As a parent, there are few experiences as humbling as retrieving a tiny runaway cereal thief from the neighbor's trampoline.
With the Universe persistently reminding me of how incapable I am, I am facing the fact that I play my adult woman role less like Joanna Gaines and more like the hugely inconvenienced actors in infomercials who might need more help than the product advertised can actually offer.
You know it's bad when you get a surprise self-help book in the mail from your mother entitled, Confessions of an Organized Housewife. Thanks, mom.
Well, I put on my big girl pants and read it and it has since changed everything about how I manage my home, like, the part where I actually manage my home, so I can't stop telling everyone I know about it (hopefully with more tact than my mom). Take this little hint for example: sort dirty silverware as it goes into the dishwasher. It takes zero extra time and emptying the sorted, clean silverware takes seconds. The book has been revised and reprinted since my mom read it as a young mom and could use one more face lift to incorporate tech like apps, but I found a lot of it applicable to 21st Century moms.
I just have to share one more book that I think about all the time when organizing my house. It's called, Organizing Solutions for People with ADHD. Yes, I have ADHD (*gasp* don't tell anyone! Nobody could guess by how together I seem all the time!) and you may not, but I'd argue that the book has great solutions for anyone who has difficulty sticking with an organization system because he/she just can't seem to put things all the way away. Spoiler alert: Don't use lids! The most underrated part of the book is that it is written by a professional organizer whose daughter has ADHD. Would that not make for the best Dr. Phil episode ever?
What organizational tricks have worked for you? Share the wealth in the comments.
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