ten second tidy

have you ever watched 'the big comfy couch'?

it's a canadian children's t.v. program that my children and i adored.

there was loonette and molly,

the clown and her dolly....

the show was a lot of fun to watch (even for moms) 

but my favourite part of the show was when loonette, 

looking at the mess that they have made,

 declares that it's time for the 

"ten second tidy".

the show then features a fast forward version of molly and loonette picking up and tidying (mostly stuffing the mess into the bottomless hidden compartments within the couch)

this was usually the same time i prompted my own kidlings 

to pick up their toys and put things back in order.

clean up was tooooooo easy.... (back then)

because with loonette and molly, we had fun cleaning up our messes!!!

today,

the mess is messier than ever.

my kids love to cook and bake, blend milkshakes and peel their own fruits.

as teenagers, they have to try several outfits before confidence sets in.

they continually disrobe from soccer and dance and karate and school... 

that the laundry machine is always on duty and act of folding becomes obsolete.

but the biggest mess producer wrecks havoc after everyone has left the house... me!!!

i am very messy.
i thrive on chaos to be creative.
i read 4 or 5  books and 20 magazines at the same time...
 i have several knitting projects going...
i indulge in my urges to sew when i find interesting materials...
i take apart old jewelry and make new ones... 
(and this is only the beginning)

(and yes, i've come to accept and love that part of me.)

but....
i'm proud to say,
the power of the 'ten second tidy' is still in me.

my good friend, Jennifer and her dog bronte, 
decided to honour me and harlow with a visit this week.
after the victoria day long weekend, our house was a mess!!
but her promise to visit energized me to calm the chaos in a big way.

if you have children, you'll understand that it was useless for me to clean ahead of time.
since it was superstep tuesday at the gym that morning 
(i'm an avid stepper and couldn't miss that)
i left the mess till 45 minutes before her estimated time of arrival.

after a good feeding of yogurt and fruit,
 i was able to perform my high-speed clean-up routine!!!
it took me more than 10 seconds but most of everything found its proper place
and that beautiful sense of organization fell upon our home once again.

and jennifer, bronte, harlow and i had a wonderful visit!!!!

erica
xoxo