I remember telling my husband “I feel like I’m so busy doing all these things that I don’t get to enjoy being a mom.”
That’s all I needed to say, out loud, to realize that something needed to change. I’ve always been an organized person and enjoy cleaning. However, the amount of time I was spending trying to keep up was taking away the time I wanted to spend being a present mom. It shattered my heart. I was in tears. I felt resentful towards my husband even though it had nothing to do with him.
It was then that I recognized it was time for a change. I began by going through our first sons closet where it had been the catch-all for all things baby. He wasn’t even in his nursery yet but would be transitioning there shortly. I wanted to keep his room simple, calm, yet enjoyable. A place where we could read books before bed and also play.
His room went from chaos to calm in a matter of hours. I was able to walk into his room and feel this sense of lightness. The excess was gone and it was what I had envisioned in my head. There were a few toys on the shelf, some books in his bookcase, and a cute floor bed in the corner.
Spending time in there made me want to do this to every room in our room. So I did. And I continue to do it every once in a while to be sure the clutter doesn’t come back.
My son is now two years old and having been minimizing for even one year has changed my mental health drastically. I feel able to keep up with the home tasks while also fully enjoying being a mom.
