The Horror

Today I had the daunting task of organizing my eldest daughter's half unpacked mess of a room. Basically she had opened and dumped her life on the floor and I was there to make it all livable again.

When I'm tackling a job of this magnitude I like to think about it, get over the shock, and then dive in. Of course my daughter had to help cull and clear treasured possessions from her piles of old stuff. At various points in the process I would find her looking at a dirty rock trying to remember it's importance, reading old journal entries and she even played two dice rolls of Yahtzee before I shot her the "are you really playing Yahtzee look". She didn't want to go through the mess she had made. Really how many of us like to clean up our messes. Isn't it easier to buy a new bin or container to stuff it into? How many magazines and books do you see dedicated to this subject alone?

Here's what I know... If it's your mess, you're the only one who can clean it correctly. And secondly, if you've identified a mess don't ignore it. I promise you it will not go away on it's own. In fact did you know that one mess breeds more messes. It's a theory called the "broken-window theory". This is a theory used by modern police that says any sign of social or physical neglect in a neighborhood (a broken window) leads people to commit more crimes and misdemeanors. So the simple act of leaving dirty clothes on the floor could lead to all kinds of household upheaval.

Cleanliness is not my natural disposition. Being a mother of four it has become a large part of my life's calling. When I fall short of the mark I get out my new favorite book on the subject Home Comforts by Cheryl Mendelson. This book is not for the faint of heart. It is a 856 page guidebook on almost every aspect of housekeeping. In it she details historical perspectives on housekeping as well as modern innovations that can help in our daily tasks. That's where I learned about the "broken-window theory". Yes, I'm a bit of a geek, even about housekeeping.

So if you are facing a mess be it household, financial, or personal start cleaning it up now. You may find it wasn't as bad as you first thought. The most difficult part is the first step in any endeavor. Even in cleaning your eldest daughter's mess of a room. -Candice