This was a good day and good week. Even though I didn’t have any big sustained blocks to work on my project, I was able to accomplish some important tasks:

• I organized two kitchen cabinets and decluttered the countertop. When we re-did the kitchen two years ago, we nearly doubled our counter space. More than having additional room to prepare meals, I was most excited about having counter space to display things. But I realized that I preferred open spaces and tried to minimize the things I had out. Somehow this happened:

It’s like something out of Seinfeld.

And I hated it. So today I reorganized the food, tossed a couple boxes of pasta which each contained about three pieces of ancient ziti, and made enough room for the cereal. Now it looks like this, and I am happy though I plan to relocate the jars which contain tea and chocolate:

Much improved.

• I’m using visuals. After reorganizing the bookshelves, I realized I needed to do something to remind me to find an alternative to piling stuff on flat surfaces. This seemed like an effective possibility:
  

  Someday this will apply to the whole house, but for now I’ll settle for a shelf.

  I admit it’s pretty juvenile, but I think seeing a reminder will help us get into the habit of finding alternatives to letting random things pile up all over the place. So far I’ve posted them on the bookshelves and the section of kitchen counter I decluttered today.

• I set a container deadline. More than one reader commented on the likelihood of my empty containers getting filled with stuff I don’t need. And it’s something I thought of too. It’s a definite possibility. So I’m going to give myself two weeks, and then whatever I’m not using will be donated. I’m going to make a homework basket for Emma, with things like tape and a ruler and pencil sharpener, stuff we find ourselves hunting for.
• I had a proud mom moment today. Showing Emma how to be organized, and involving her whenever appropriate has been an important part of my project. In The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, Marie Kondo pointed out that people don’t tidy because they never learned how, which resonated with me. And as I go through this project, I’m trying to involve Emma whenever appropriate. For a young child, she seems to have a natural inclination to organize and be tidy, which I never had. I think she looks at what I do and does the opposite! Earlier I was in her room and noticed this:
  

  She has an evening routine too.

  I really appreciate that she did this because when school ended in June I was just working two mornings a week, and about six weeks in Bob ended his school year so we both did our morning things independent of each other. But now I work every day, and Bob will be back to work too so we’re going to need her to be a little more independent in the morning, though she’d been choosing her outfits and even fixing her own lunch and breakfast before I went back to work. So I think we’ll have a smooth transition, but I still felt impressed to see her skills at work.

We’re down to three more summer weekends, and I’m looking forward to having some time to relax with a good book. Have a great weekend!