Blitzing... It's Not a Reindeer

The boys (including Kerry) were all invited to a campout, to celebrate a friend's 5th birthday.

Hurray!  Fun for them!

And, hurray!  A quiet house for me!

And double-plus-good, it's leverage for getting more done.  Not that the boys aren't willing to help,
but a little extra motivation is always nice :D

So, before we loaded up the tents and sleeping bags, we did some long-awaited Blitzing,
inspired by my friend Jena.

 

As usual, the room that descends into chaos the most quickly is the so-called family room.  Which the boys have appropriated as a play room.  Because their enormous bedroom just isn't enough.  Fine.

But opening the door to see this drives me absolutely nuts.

Yes, I know, it's a short drive.

Clutter everywhere, and a pile of books to the right of the TV.

Turning left, to the closet, I found this.

A K'nex explosion, Legos, (eek! you're mixing dynasties!), pillows,

papers on the floor and apparently falling out of the closet,

dry-erase boards, garbage, nerf darts, a towel,

and much, much, more!

And the poor, old lumpy futon looks down-right depressing.
I think, as furniture goes, it's at least middle-aged, and losing the fight against gravity.

I thought about putting it on Craigslist earlier this year, but got rid of some ugly chairs, instead.

While the rest of the floor-space looked like this - more books, more papers.

Hot Wheels, toys, videos and DVDs, etc.

making it difficult to access the bookshelves or the extra bathroom.

But... four people working for 1/2 an hour, makes 2 hours of work!

And, wah-wah!

Now, I see a tidier view from my kitchen vantage point.

And when I go in, and turn to the closet... I can get in there to find things!

K'nex are in their tub.

Legos are in their tubs. (Cannot be contained in just one!)

Books are shelved.

And the futon...

...well, the futon is still sad and saggy, but better dragged upright,

and accessorized with pillows instead of toys.

And the overall effect is peaceful,

rather than anxiety-inducing.

So, now that it's clean, they'll be more likely to

keep it tidy...

riiiiiight?