There is a poem my mother had as a picture -- don't remember if she posted it or gave it to my sister when my sister had a baby, but I remember it. "Cleaning and scrubbing can wait for tomorrow, For babies grow up we learn to our sorrow. So quiet down cobwebs, dust go to sleep. I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep."

I’m 55, raised 6 kids n help with 8 grandkids. Advise is don’t stress over the little things. Spend quality time with your kids n love, cherish n teach them.

I like the ambient cleaning noise! The drying rack should fit in the right side of the sink! That way you can use it, but it won't clutter the counter ❤️❤️

My kids are in their 30s now and the thing I would tell my younger self is...take more time to have fun with them and not worry so much about what "should" be done.

I like decluttering & organizing videos and 1 hour better videos. My daughter is now 24 and my recommendation to younger moms is have less stuff, including toys. Every day do a 10 minute pick up (including the family) and if you can't get the house presentable, you need to get rid of more stuff. In the end everyone will be happier. Messes will happen, the key is how long it takes to get it picked up. (Ten minutes better is just picking up and putting away, not cleaning with cleaners.) Also a few minutes of cleaning when you have time. It's ok to clean for 5 minutes, don't wait until you have 30 minutes, because when they're little is hard to get large amounts of time. The 5 minutes of cleaning adds up. In the beginning it may not seem like it's working, but as you get rid of stuff, and do daily 10 minute pickups, it gets easier and you'll start seeing a difference. All of this definitely gets easier as the children get older but it helps make life easier when they're little. Also I highly recommend Dana K White's, No Mess Decluttering Method, because it's easier to do small declutters. Hope this helps someone.

I love the 'one hour better' video's. They are a good reminder about how much can be done. "Excuse the mess. We do life here."

My babies are now 17 and 21. What I wish I would have done when my kids were younger is not hold onto and keep accumulating stuff! I have always been a very organized person but I remember the stress I felt if company was coming. Your kids are going to take out and leave out all that stuff. Less stuff less mess 😃

Sooo happy to see your video pop up on my notifications! I’ve missed you

How about.. “I’m more concerned with a happy home than a perfect house” ❤

I would love a GRWM video, where you show the makeup products you are currently using (because you look amazing!). I don't use a drying rack, just a kitchen towel. I put hand washed items on it to drip dry, then use the towel to finish drying later if needed. The towel is easier to clean than a rack 😊 I had a friend who hand washed every dish and used the dishwasher as her drying rack 😂. She would occasionally run the dishes through a cycle in the dishwasher, but it was mostly a glorified dish rack 😅.

I like the natural cleaning sounds a lot. The One Hour Betters are just what I need. Thank you so much. 😊

Sorry you’ve been unwell. We miss you when we don’t see you for a while! Hope you are fine now. My favorite videos are “decluttering” and “one hour better” videos so I’d just enjoy more of these.

How about this as a sign in the house - Excuse the mess, we don't do stress. We do our best and release the rest 😊

I just love the person you are...your openness and honesty about how life really is is just so refreshing and encouraging.. Thank you💕

I'm 63 and have just recently learned I must take care of myself. Since retirement life is so much more laid back. I was raised that every day you had a huge list of chores. My mother vacuumed, stripped the 3 beds, dusted all the furniture and cleaned the 2 bathrooms every single day. We never left any laundry in the dryer. It must be folded and put away before bedtime. When I married 45 years ago I did not do those compulsive things daily but I did learn from her cleanlyness. I miss her incredibly since her passing 8 years ago. Take care of yourself, Shannon. You can not pour from an empty cup.

Drying Rack: I found a smaller draining rack that sets down in my sink. I know it’s there, but it frees up the counter. Keep after it Ms S! ❤️

My kids are all in school now but, when we were all home together or even now during school holidays or summer; we have a quick tidy up before each meal time. I clean the kitchen after each meal to stay ahead of the next meal. That helps keep our household of 8 functioning and less chaotic. I feel like this system helps us thrive instead of simply surviving.

I like the cleaning sounds like they are here. They’re present but not overbearing or overtaking the commentary.

I always say one day your house will clean and quiet, so enjoy the mess and the noise while you can, you cannot get tomorrow back. Glad you are back and feeling better.

I have a small drying rack that fits inside the sink. I got it at Walmart. It saves me countertop space and gets the job done!

Your owl pillow is super cute! I do enjoy the cleaning sounds in the background. :). Also, you are beautiful!

As a grandmother I look back today and thought I'd share a couple of things I did. Firstly my mums house was the kind of house you had to move stuff off a chair to sit down so that's why I am what I am lol. I used to set a timer and every 2 hours we would have a quick clear up - anything not being played with went away then a quick snack and a cuddle/book read and onto the next thing. I also had an open plan home so I could see my daughter/grandchildren and manage to make food, do laundry etc - I know I was lucky. My daughter looks back with smiles of her growing up as do my grandchildren - messy is good but try and reset throughout the day - if you can't you can't if you can you do. My slogan would be "I'm playing with my children instead of my hoover"

I had severe covid back in 2020( I have asthma) it left me not the same which they have now termed long covid, but once I got the two pfizzer shots it was like some cleaner went inside my body and scrubbed it all out. i went from not being to walk for more than 5 minutes to having my endless energy back. i have had covid this year in june, and again in late sept and im exhausted again, I cannot wait til the 90 day time is up so i can get my booster and be back to me again ❤ i hope you feel better soon.

My kids are older with kids of their own. Don’t worry about your house at all! Have fun. No TVs in bedrooms. Dinner at the table. Vacations. Family nights. Stop the fretting. Enjoy this time. Document because your memory will fade. No arguments and yelling and frantic out the door mornings.

I watch 27 Fox Place and she leaves the cleaning noise in her videos as well…never thought that I would like that, but I do!

Hope you’re feeling better. It took me awhile to feel better after COVID. Give yourself grace and rest. ❤ My babies are 20 & 24! Hmm, so many things to tell my younger self. Let go of perfection, it’s ok to let your kids be kids and make messes and don’t let that stop you from having friends over and hosting play dates. If you wait for your house to be perfect to invite folks over you’ll be waiting forever. I would have had my kids do more chores around the house. But they do do their laundry so I guess that’s a win. 😂 And always play and hug your kids even when they don’t want to be hugged! They will remember the times you made sand castles and snowmen and zoomed matchbox cars with them more than the fact that you had a clean home. They grow up way too fast! ❤

Kohls has some wall decor that says something like "Welcome Please excuse the mess, my kids are making memories" :) -Lety from Chicago

Looks like your hard work of decluttering has made a dramatic impact. You were able to pull house back together in one hour kudos! If you “peel the onion “ and do another layer of decluttering in the same space … wow … you may be able to pull house together in less than an hour! You are doing such a fantastic job ❤🎉

I am 80 years old and still struggle too, but am doing good for my age-- you go girl!

Missed seeing your lovely face and hearing your voice! Thank you for posting ❤

My kids are 34 and 28 now. Both are married and on their own. I would tell myself not to sweat the small stuff and appreciate the moments. Moments make memories.

Good morning! Squealing usually means a bearing is going out somewhere. If it was a belt, my experience is that it would have a smell too. I'm coming down from a yearlong Hashimotos attack which srnt me hyper and it has not been a good experience but I'm "normal" at the moment. Please take all the rest you can get.

That is a perfect statement. Excuse the Mess. I am enjoying my children's lives. It says it all.

Hi there, Shannon! I love your channel and your can do attitude! 💕 We homeschooled for 20 years so I was able to spend a lot of time with my kids. Grammie now cares for my two precious little grandsons. Enjoy every moment of every day. They say the days are long but the years are short. I don’t know how that is but time flies when you’re not looking. 😎 I enjoy cleaning inspiration and hearing the vacuum cleaner over any music. 🌸 May God richly blessed you and your family always. 🩷

I totally agree about not worrying about the mess. My children are grown now. I wish I had spent more time playing with my kids and enjoying the time with them while they were growing up. Housework will always be there. Our kids grow up so fast. You will miss them so much when they are grown and out of the house.❤

Wow, you are so beautiFULL ❣️. Yes we like to hear the cleaning sounds. Blessed in Pennsylvania…. ✝️. Also we have great grands, in this season know that you have blessings of stuff & beautiFULL children ❣️

I would tell my younger self not to volunteer so much, including church. I would also lower my standards, not expect perfection from myself or my children. There are about another hundred things I'd tell my younger self, lol. I love your one hour better and, strangely, when you clean and organize your master bedroom. I don't know why that's so satisfying. As far as background to your voice-over, I prefer to just hear you. Your voice is so soothing. Hope you're feeling better. Take care, Linda 🦋

Here! Glad to see another video! ❤️

My dish drying rack fits inside my sink on the left (non-disposal) side, instead of on the counter. I can easily drain pots, leave a few dirty dishes sitting in the sink, but the rack is slightly out of sight. May work for you!

Try a drying pad. You can put it in a drawer when you don’t need it. Ours always has dishes on it but it’s not as much visible clutter as a rack.

MY ADVICE I WOULD GIVE MY YOUNGER SELF WHEN MY DAUGHTERS WERE LITTLE IS TO ENJOY THEM LONGER AND EMBRACE THE MESS. I WORKED A FULL TIME JOB AND STILL DO AND I LET KEEPING UP WITH THE HOUSE TAKE OVER ENJOYING THEM MORE. I REGRET THAT THE MOST. THEY GROW UP SO FAST. THEY ARE NOW 16, 15 AND 9. I STILL STRUGGLE WITH IT BUT HAVE GOTTEN BETTER. MISS MY LITTLES. BY THE WAY... YOU ARE DOING AWESOME!

I was screaming out “girl, put that dish rack back on the bench, it’s a necessity” 😂 I can live without ours.

Hello again! Its lovely to see you again. I've missed you giving me encouragement to declutter/tidy. Although I have the best excuse now as we became grandparents for the first time!!😊😊. Much love to you and your family xxxx

I also wanted to get rid of the dryer rack. So now I just use a clean kitchen towel.. lay it out on the counter, still let the dishes air dry, lol and then hang up the towel to dry.

So great to see you!! I'm glad you are feeling better. I enjoy watching all your videos. Since it is getting closer to Thanksgiving. Would you do a family video? Maybe cooking or crafting something with the family. Or talking about memories. Favorite foods. Just a suggestion. And, for you and your videos. You take care of yourself and your family. We will be right here. I'm proud of you. Your house was so much easier for you to clean.

Have missed you. Glad you are back. Don’t push yourself too hard.

I’m with you on the drying rack issue! I hate it on my counter, well actually I have drying mats. I use to have a drying rack that fit in one side of my sink then it broke. I did like that better.

My kids are grown and one of them is in is in heaven. If I could give advice to parents of little ones, I’d say just stare at your kids. Listen to every word they say, and hold them as much as you can. Try to enjoy their tiny laundry and dishes. Even try to just love the marks they might make on the walls. It’s all so precious and they’ll be grown before you know it. ❤❤❤❤❤

“ I am no longer pinned down by that shame.” Love that statement! I am the mom of a 15 year old, and if I could go back, I would be nicer to myself .

My 3 boys are in their 40's & 30's. I wish I wouldn't have cared what other people thought about my housekeeping. I'd stress at the mere thought that someone might stop by. I never wanted them to have very many toys in the family room. If I could go back, I'd surely ease up on the rules!

I’m a grandma and I would say don’t sweat the messes. Enjoy every day with your kids, family and friends because you’ll never say I should’ve cleaned better but you will say I wish I had more time with………….! Time is finite live for today tomorrow will come no matter what.

Song for a Fifth Child (Babies Don’t Keep) by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton [1958] Mother, oh mother, come shake out your cloth! Empty the dustpan, poison the moth, Hang out the washing and butter the bread, Sew on a button and make up a bed. Where is the mother whose house is so shocking? She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking! Oh, I’ve grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue (Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby, loo). Dishes are waiting and bills are past due (Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo). The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew And out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo But I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo. Look! Aren’t her eyes the most wonderful hue? (Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo.) Oh, cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow, But children grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow. So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust, go to sleep. I’m rocking my baby. Babies don’t keep.

I always enjoy your videos. They make me feel peaceful after I watch them. You have come along way to be able to get three rooms in an hour. Keep the dishrack. It's your home. Children do grow up. But parents need their space too. Now that they are older and you have that wonderful upstairs room!!! Consider making that the family den area. At my parents house, the living room was the first room in which you entered. It stayed ready for my Mother to receive her friends, mostly neighbors and parents of my friends. It wasn't a "bad" thing, just we knew to leave it tidy for guests and left our socks etc. in the family room, which were reminded to remove before going to bed. haha but the socks and children clutter may just be like the dishrack, what makes your home your home. Nobody wants a clean space where everyone is afraid to live in it. In my place there is not a separate den room, so clutter has to be sorted. The good news is that is small. haha. Best wishes for a full recovery. It took me about six months to get to be 100% after I had covid and I had a mild case.

I love your videos. ❤ although you are not feeling your best, you look beautiful as does your home.

When I don’t hand dry my dishes i place the wet clean dishes on a kitchen towel on the counter. 😁

I'm so thankful you're beginning to feel better. Cleaning sounds, not a problem. I did appreciate the Bible verse in tge beginning...very nice! It's amazing what can ve dine in an hour...I had just finished a morning tidy myself!

Glad you feeling better .. I do have to say I really missed you I like to clean along with you .. I like the one hour re set .. please dont stop posting . I am a older grandma I'm 72 ... when I was young I did the card system (before Flylady) it was S.H.E.. So each day would do something .. Each night before dinner we did a toy room clean up .. after dinner kitchen was cleaned right away with all of us ( all ages ) .. this gave us lots of free time for play grounds / parks / playdates.. I did laundry daily wash / dry / put away . We had nice toy room with shelfs and bins so clean up was easy no toys in the bedrooms . I didnt send the kids off to go clean I did it with them and we set the timer for 5 min and have races.. made a game out of it .. I did a daily bathroom wipe down ( less then 5 min ) ... it seemed so easy and no stress because it didnt get out of control ... and we did boating / and fun things .. I also did 30 meals every 6 weeks so cooking dinner was just pop in the oven frozen in the morning and set my time bake so dinner was always done in the morning .. I also used my crockpot a lot .. I made up meals ready to dump into the crockpot on Sunday night so each morning just had to plop it in .. I just wish I was that organized today .. I'm a hot mess now . My kids always had clean sheet / hot meal / clean room / clean clothes .. and no stress .. it was a easy flow .. The book was Side Track home executives by Pam young and Peggy jones ( it was a lot of cards to fill out back then but if they wanted to do something we would all take a card and get it done ) .. it works .. then I went to work full time ( took the kids with me I opened a furniture store ) and the way things had been set up our house worked even better .. On the meals my girlfriend would come over and we would prep 64 dinners every 6 weeks ( I used foil pans I could toss after dinner ) ... Sorry this is so long..

My kids are now 20, 17, 11 and 10. I went so many years with people making me feel so bad because I had toys everywhere and I couldn’t seem to get the house clean and keep it clean. If I could go back, I wouldn’t let it bother me so much. Now most of those toys are gone. My younger two have a few toys they still play with. But so many of those toys have been donated or sold. It’s more about electronics now.

My older sister taught me a valuable lesson after we cleaned up the kitchen etc which was to stop and look around after to see how nice everything looked. This has stuck with me all these years. Thank you for sharing your experience with us.

Glad to see you back.. I have missed your videos... had been praying for you.. taking care of your self is doing something productive... I just told my husband.. you can't run like mad and not crash.. the crash is inevitiable... try and avoid the crash if you can.. if not embrace it... make sure you got some freezer meals ready to go in the freezer for that recoup time and rest, recoup and get ready to climb the next portion of the mountian... even mountain climbers rest part way up the mountain, as you cant do it all in one go!!! truck loads of blessings sent your way!

Good to see you back! I really do enjoy the decluttering, cleaning, and one hour better videos. Just a thought on the drying rack, is it possible to have a place under your sink that it is put away and you bring it out when you need it? Thanks so much.

I think the cleaning sounds while you talk are great. When I’m listening while I clean it helps to hear that you’re cleaning too and keeps me motivated. ❤

I was so excited to see your post today. I've missed you. Your pants are baggy! You have continued to lose weight! Good for you. I'm so proud of you girl. I've lost 50 pounds and I feel so much better not carrying it around.Love you girl.

Best advice I can give is take care of yourself, go out with your girlfriends or girlfriends & the kiddos. I spent plenty of time grabbing my daughter and meeting up with friends and their kids. I was lucky that in my group of 4 friends our kids are of a similar age (now 19, 18, 17, 17, 16 and 16). We are all older moms, 56 now. The mess will still be there when you get home. Have some fun! Second piece of advice, have company over, like you're doing now. We can all get a lot done in 1-2 hours! Shannon I love your content!!! You are looking beautiful in this video...LOVE your blue blue eyes!

Drying rack ?? Shannon. What's under your sink? We made space for ours there and I love it!! Clear island for just a few moments of the day makes me super happy. Maybe you could put it under too

I prefer either music, chatting, or cleaning sounds separately. Take the breaks you need, when you need it. We will wait. ❤ For the bedroom you can buy self closing hinges.

I love the natural cleaning sounds, I find them calming. Love your pumpkin shirt, that color really looks great on you too. Happy November 🧡💛🤎🧡💛🤎

I had a sign that said: "Good mom's have dirty opens, sticky floors and happy children". I had it in the kitchen, very visible and I saw more than one judgy person suddenly put on an understanding facial expression. My kids are of similar age as yours and I, too, just NOW get the feeling like I don't suck at all times. BTW, now I have a sign saying "the house was clean yesterday. Such a pity you missed it". 😂 I am happy you're back, I was wondering where you suddenly disappeared to... but I can totally wait for a video, I'm happy to watch it. I was just a bit worried about you because I know that you struggle with your health. Anyway, sending greetings from Luxembourg 🇱🇺

My sister has a dry rack in the 2nd sink. It keeps her counter clear.

So glad to see you back. When I don't see your video I know you are on the struggle bus with blinders on. I have to do the same thing. Thank you for sharing your journey

The cleaning sounds fit, since they aren't too loud - you balanced it well with the voice over still being easy to understand.

You are looking lovely. Glad your feeling better. For your videos, decide what you want finished in 2023 and make those videos. For 2024, decide what projects you want done from 2023 that you didn't get finished and do it! Then, say in March, start your new projects. Break it down, girl.😂❤

So sorry to hear you had Covid. I like hearing cleaning sounds in the background much better than music.

Hi Shannon, you've done awesome in one hour! My four kiddos are older now - 14, 15, 17 and 19, so I had 4 babies under 5 years at one point. I really wish I didn't worry too much about keeping the house clean and just spent more time with my kids. For some reason I was too paranoid that someone would walk in and think I was an awful mum and housekeeper. I think I didn't want them to say that I clearly shouldn't have had 4 kids coz I couldn't keep the house clean. Why did I even think of that? I definitely had issues about fitting in back then. Coz I married young (21) and we just moved to a new country. If I could go back and meet my younger self, I would give her a big hug and tell her she's doing great and to slow down and enjoy the moments coz the kids will grow up quickly and I won't be able to take back the lost time...

Ive missed you. I am glad you are feeling . I love all your videos but i do love one hour better. Good job!

I found that I didn't care about the mess if my kids were having a great time. However, I think it is absolutely other people e.g. parents/family who put the stress on me to have the 'perfect' home. As an older person I can understand that more, as it is easy to be a lot more tidy/cleaner when you don't have those tiny little people making the mess. However, I also don't put that pressure on my kids who have children. I just pitch in by asking if they would like me to do something rather than sitting there judging. I understand the concept of less stuff makes less mess, but as a crafty person whose girls did ballet for over 15 years it's a lot easier said than done. Thank you for your honesty and it is lovely to hear you speak so kindly about yourself and your understanding of what is important in life. Family, love and laughter.

If that squealing noise is new, maybe check the seals on the dishwasher around the edges and also the hose connections/hoses themselves. My sister's dishwasher blew the seals and they had to have insurance replace all the floors in that area.

Wie schön, dsss es Ihnen besser geht. Als Mutter einer 20 jährigen Tochter kann ich nur bestätigen, kümmert Euch um eire Kinder und verbringt soviel Zeit wie möglich mit Ihnen. Spielt, backt , kocht und genießt die gemeinsame Zeit mit wirklicher Begegnung. Diese Zeit gibt den Kindern Halt und Sicherheit in der Beziehung zu den Eltern. Nicht gekaufte Spielsachen machen die Kunder glücklich sondern gemeinsam gespielte Zeit. Das kostet meistens wenig, geht in die Natur, lest den Kindern vor, malt all das erinnert meine Tochter, selten spricht sie über den ganzen Plastikkram, der ihr gekauft wurde.

I’m glad you feel better now that you’re able to have guests over. I always do the most cleaning before we have guests but I’m trying to do a little more on a regular basis. When my kids were little and saw me cleaning they’d ask who was coming over. 😂

What I would change about my parenting would be to not ask what they want for dinner. I was literally a restaurant for years. It was hard, I work over full time. My kids and my husband always wanted something different. I should have made dinner and that's what they got. If they didn't like it too bad. One thing I would do again and dont regret is letting our kids sleep in our bed. I miss the cuddles with my babies.

My fave type of video to watch. Missed you Shannon, glad you’re on the mend

My sugars have been elevated for several months following Covid; headed in the right direction, but I had no idea that that would last so long. Bless you and a quick prayer for continued healing.

Shannon, I know you are a busy Mom, but I really miss you when you are a long time doing a video. We have a lot in common and you have helped me since the day I found your channel. Hope to see you soon. CAROL

That needs to be on a shirt "If your doing your best you have to Release the Rest"

I really enjoy the music playing in the background.

Shannon you are so pretty both inside and out😊

I've missed you but glad you took some time for yourself and family. As soon as I saw you posted I jumped on to watch. 😊

I like all your videos! Maybe a Christmas decorate video and a Christmas decor declutter video.

I love your video as always Shannon. I didn't mind hearing the natural cleaning noises. Thanks for keeping it real. I loved the nugget I was able to gleen today.... Do your best and release the rest.... I tend to strive for perfection, but have ADD tendencies it makes it tough. I have been going through a season of health issues lately myself.

There was a saying that I kept on my fridge that said " Cleaning the house while the kids are little is like sweeping the snow while it's still snowing."

I totally get the drying rack issue. I switched to just have a big pad, I like it better........but getting those dishes put away is my downfall!

Hi Shannon 😊 Happy to hear that you're feeling better. I love the natural cleaning sounds. I really like the 1 hour better videos. I'm the same way with no more shame about what my house looks like. They're coming overall to see me, not the house lol. I'm struggling with being kind to myself and taking breaks etc. I can't go go go anymore. My body gets pissed at me. Honestly a perfectly clean house is not normal lol. It doesn't look lived in. 😊 Take good care of yourself ❤

I have the kind of metal bar drying rack that spans part of your sink. When nothing is on it, I roll it in half out of the way. If I have more dishes than fit, I use those cushiony drying pads next to the sink. I loathe having a drying rack out or to take it out/put it away constantly. Still might not be for you guys, but thought the I’d mention it. Glad to see you back! 🙂

Shannon, I'm so happy to see you back!! I've missed you. I'm glad that you are feeling better.

My favorite videos.. omg, the part where you talk about the drying rack 😂😂 I had to show my husband! Just the best!! We could completely relate.. “we are a drying rack couple” 🤣❤️

I am cleaning along with you and when you said excuss the mess all i could think was Excuss the Mess My house is blessed. I was so glad to see your video this morning. I hope you are having a good weekend.

Yes mine are grown - 41 down to 35- I wish I had spent more time with them and less time cleaning- they bring me their babies and I play - still have to clean but fun is more important- I’m glad I’m not alone in a clean house - used to think I would enjoy it - nope

Glad you're feeling better, Shannon! We did miss you. My stepdaughter is a homeschooling mom of five and she has a sign that reads "Don't mind the mess. We live, love, and laugh here." By the time I had my now 21 year old, I'd already been a Flybaby for several years so going back to my routines helped a lot. Plus I worked outside the home so nobody was there to mess it up during the day! Lol Keep the drying rack out but only when it holds dishes. I try to put my dishes away as soon as they dry then put my mat away until I wash again. It helps keep the visual clutter down so we don't tend to let things linger on the counter. I really enjoy the One Hour Better videos. They give me hope and motivation. You make things seem achievable even with physical limitations. The cleaning sounds are nice but not distracting and too loud. Your decluttering videos are good, too. Hearing your thought process as you go through things helps me remember that it's a process and not always easy. Thank you for being here with us. Can't wait to see you again! ♥

The kid is 31 now and clearly we were both undiagnosed ADHD with different “Clutterbug” management styles, so some of it was just going to be what it was no matter what. As an example, the shoe tornado at the front door; I had to compromise with one big, unaesthetic bin and hope she kicked everything off in the right direction-and she couldn’t even manage that half the time 🙄. Frankly, when she was getting good grades, enjoying lovely friends, and involved with a lot of activities at school, I just didn’t feel her brain could handle more pressure with nagging over tidiness. So I lived with it. If I could go back and tweak, I would have had a LOT less household inventory, put away the decor for another stage, said no to more things, and just concentrated on maintaining my own spaces as sanctuary for me. Eventually, she began to feel the difference between her spaces and mine in terms of calm, and she realized what I was doing that she wasn’t, and that began to influence her behavior. As you say, though, being fully present as a parent was my first priority and if the house suffered, it suffered!

I'm so happy to see you. You are missed.❤