Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Cleanliness is next to impossible

Today I came to the most horrible realization that I need to clean my office.

I work from home and I'm lucky enough to have a room of my own to work in. (unlike our last house where I worked on the kitchen table, but my stuff was spread out all over the living room and kitchen)
My goal for the week is to organize my work space. I think I will be able to think better and therefore work better. The biggest problem is that the only time the mess bothers me is when I'm working, but then I don't have time to do anything about it because, I'm working, and then when I'm not working, it doesn't really bother me because I'm not in my office and I forget. (well, I don't really forget, but it does slide down a few notches on my list of priorities)

Honestly, I would love to get everything organized............if it wasn't so darn much work!

A few days ago, one of the offspring took it upon himself to rearrange a stack of papers on my computer desk. (thanks a bunch kiddo) the problem being that he didn't take the whole stack at once, but in different chunks, mixing the papers up as he went along. I think some of them may have even fallen behind the desk.
Last night, I spent nearly an hour re-sorting these papers into more sub categories of piles.

I left the room for a minute and when I came back, another child was sitting in my computer chair. On top of two stacks of papers, which will now need to be re-sorted again.
I need to get a new chair. The arms on the chair are cracked and keep pinching my elbows whenever I lean my arms on them, and there seems to be a little sensor in the seat of the chair. This sensor detects when I'm sitting down to work and sends signals to the children. They then need me to do something immediately.
There is another sensor in the chair that tells the kids when I leave the chair, then they slide right into the chair to use the computer.
It would be great if they were using it for some educational purpose, however, as of late, their favorite thing to do is to go to YouTube and watch videos of some guy putting cell phones in a blender and blending them.
I told Aaron that he really shouldn't be watching these because I didn't want him getting any ideas, and he said "If I watch it on YouTube, and see what happens, then I don't need to try it myself.

Oh how I wish that 6 years ago someone would have filmed themselves flushing various items down the toilet so Aaron wouldn't have felt the need to try that himself.

Do you have any idea how much it costs when the plumber has to remove your toilet from the floor to remove items that didn't flush all the way down?
Well, I know what it costs to have TWO toilets removed on the same day because both of them were hopelessly clogged by unflushable items.
Were you aware that plumbers don't give you any sort of a discount for stuff like that?

Anyway, back to my messy office. Max came in my office while I was sorting.
"Whatcha doin' mom?"
"I'm cleaning my office."
"Oh."
Then he left only to return with a garbage bag.
"I'm going to help you clean!"
Which would have been great, but Max thinks that any piece of paper that isn't blank is garbage (unless it has original artwork by him) The only paper worth saving is blank paper that that can potentially be drawn on.
Here's the deal, there was no way that I was going to let my 4 year old son clean my office. The kid loves the shredder.

I finally gave up for the night. I will start again today.

Wish me luck.

13 comments:

Chief said...

hint: a lock for the door

praying for you

Jessica said...

My office gets cleaned every few months and it's not fun. I need better storage options and I *think* it would work better.

Good luck!

Jillene said...

Good luck!! And I agree with Chief--you need a lock on the door.

Melissa said...

I never get anything cleaned. My kids follow me around the house and undo everything I get done. I fought a good fight, but the battle was lost. Maybe when they're back in school I'll have the gumption to try again... good luck to you!!

rychelle said...

should i call in the experts from Clean Sweep for you?

Kristina P. said...

I like Aaron's reasoning. Do you think that would work with porn? If he sees someone else doing it, he won't have to try it?

I think we've found our new answer to sex education.

Bonnie the Boss said...

I so know what you ar saying! especially on the toilet flushing thing. I bet you could google it and come up with something!
My kids want to nuke random things in the microwave and I keep telling them no. I am so mean!

Mum-me said...

I used to hate cleaning my office too. But my children used to love 'helping' me .... "What is this for, mum?" [crash] "Ooops!"

I gave up work when no.3 came along so I am in awe of you to keep plodding along with 4.

Rachel Sue said...

I am so with you. I hate it when my kids get on the computer. It is my brain. It is where all the important mail goes, all the bills, all the calendars. And after the kids get on the computer something is always lost. Drives me nuts!

Amy said...

Your post sounded so familiar. I work from home and my "office" never seems to get clean. It doesn't help that it is also used for storage and has been knick-named "the black hole" by my son.

Anonymous said...

oh! great ... i always agree with you ...I never get anything cleaned..
Thanks for sharing...
___________________
Melvin
Apply now Nation wide cash

Karen said...

I clean the top of my desk when I can't find things anymore and/or forget to pay a bill that's on the bottom of the pile.

Jessica G. said...

I think my chair has that same sensor! I frequently return from a potty break to find a small person clicking their way through my Facebook page.