Almost done...

I've been taking my time, building up courage, getting myself ready to face the mountainous job that lies ahead. I'm talking about Sierra's bedroom - the only one of the kids' rooms that I've not yet cleaned out and organized.  

I did the boys' room in June and it took just a day.  It was a long day, but productive and we finished in about eight hours. The boys are doing a great job keeping it organized and looking good. Surprisingly, they relinquished their unused toys quite easily and were surprisingly mature about the logic in let's lose it if you don't use it. I think we ended up with ten bags that we donated and had another two or three bags of trash. We took everything that had sentimental value and boxed it up so they could have access to it at a later date.

Shortly after the boys' room, I tackled Audra's room while she was away at camp. Hers was a little more complex as we changed out her bed and painted the entire room, too. Her room took a back-breaking four days, but was so worth every minute of it.  She absolutely loves her new room and we seldom see her in other parts of the house anymore.  I joked with her the other day that I really miss seeing her during the day. She laughed and conceded how very much she loves her new room - it's peaceful, serene and has been such a refuge for her. I'm so glad that she has her own happy, comfortable space to relax and unwind.  

Sierra's room scares me.  That's really why I've left it for last and have been dragging my feet in getting it done. Just going in there to tuck her in at night is a dangerous trip. Sierra, bless her heart, is a collector and a clutter bug. When we were in San Diego earlier this summer, the girls and I watched a documentary about hoarders - grown women who "collected" things that they just couldn't live without until their entire homes were packed, floor to ceiling, with junk. As we watched in disbelief, I reminded Sierra that there needs to be limits to her collecting. The show was obviously a gross exaggeration of Sierra's small collections, but it was good for her to see unhealthy collecting and after watching the show, she agreed to be more sensible about what she considered treasures.

The last time that I asked her to pick up her room, she told me that it was clean. Here's what I saw on the floor: two tennis rackets, three softballs, one batting helmet, two soccer balls, six stuffed animals, several stacks of books and papers, three pencils, two pens, her Bible, pajamas, a bathing suit, her bath towel and three pairs of shoes.  After I went over the list, she calmly explained that they were all things she was "in the middle of doing" - some of it today and some tomorrow. After listening to her, it was clear that we had very different definitions for "picking up".

This weekend, I decided that I could put it off no longer.  She and I marched in there on Saturday to begin the long, arduous journey to find the floor.  I had a bag for give-a-ways and another for trash and trash is a given in Sierra's room. I picked up several gum wrappers, paper clips and construction paper scraps on my way over to her ginormous bin of stuffed animals. I told her we'd start there. She winced and explained that all of them were important.  This is a bin that has been in there for at least three years and I've never seen her dig down under the top layer. Nonetheless, every animal was a struggle. She had a story for each one and a compelling reason why she needed to keep them. In the end, she was able to part with a large garbage bag full of furry friends, which we put into the donation pile. 

Shortly after removing fifteen pounds of stuffed animals, we moved to her bedside table.  Bless her heart, this little nightstand is packed as full as anything I've ever seen and on top, she has a pyramid of papers, books, notebooks, toys, seashells, rocks and trash. I suggested she sit with her two bags and sort through each portion of the nightstand so we'd be able to move it later. She did an amazing job and I've marveled, thus far, at her ability to purge much of the junk.

Yesterday after church, we hit it again for just a short spell.  It was Sunday, our day of rest, so I did not want to spend the entire day in there.  We did just enough to make it livable and then the two of us took off to do some shopping.  We had such a great time together and went to several stores to look at new bedding for her. She's settled on some lovely colors and we've even decided to repaint, just to freshen it up. She is so excited.

Today we're tackling the monster - the closet.  This is going to be an entire day's work, but with her great attitude about purging, I'm confident we'll get through it easily enough.  She's a joy to work with and we're having a great time together. She's taking a piano break, practicing her beautiful music, while I take a break to write. We'll regroup, head back in there and finish the room today before picking out paint colors. Wish us luck!

Comments

[Randall]

Sheila,
With my historic and well-documented propensity to collect “treasures” of my own, I’m sure you know whom I am siding with on this project. Sounds to me like Sierra has some very logical answers for you when it comes to hanging on to most of her “stuff”. I should have used some of that logic when dealing with my mom years ago! Anyway, the good news for Sierra’s mom is that yesterday’s Sunday school lesson was all about forgiveness. So, even though her mom had gently pressured her to give up some of those precious stuffed animals (which actually had become members of the family), all has been forgiven. Hopefully her forgiving spirit will carry over throughout today :-) Randall

[S]

I know, Randall, you are very much with Sierra on this one as you are both "collectors" of fine junk and stuff. I have to say, going into day four, that Sierra has been brave, courageous and mature in letting go of some of her "collections". It was me, actually, yesterday who said, "Are you sure you want to throw them away? You've been saving them for so long!" Can you believe it? I wish I had a camera running in there as we pulled things out of her closet. Pretty much anything that had been run over in a parking lot someplace had gotten a second life with Sierra - her "treasures".

Sierra must have paid special attention in Sunday School because forgiveness came naturally and easily as I urged her to downsize some of her piles. Thanks for the timing on the lesson! Really, I have been so enjoying our special one-on-one time - she is really a lot of fun and so interesting. Her heart is bigger than her stubbornness, for which I'm eternally grateful. Thanks for caring about her heart and for planting so many Biblical seeds, which will sprout throughout her lifetime - you're the best!