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Slowly Going Mad... Or My House Is SO Messy and Noisy I Don't Know What To Do!

*I realize that this post is very poorly written.  I also want to say that while this post is very negative, I do realize how very, very blessed I am.  These are definitely "first world problems".  I am thankful for my husband, my son, my foster daughters, my house, and my overwhelming abundance of material possessions.  I am just having a hard time keeping up with the house, and adjusting to having older children.  Most people grow into having a 10 year old, they don't just get one randomly.  I don't know what to expect, I don't know what to require, and I don't really know how to entertain them without them making huge messes, which I cannot handle at this point in my life, or sticking them in front of a screen a lot, which I refuse to do.*

I am NOT a neat person.  But I don't worry to much about it (other than trying to never have people over so I can pretend I am a good housekeeper) because inevitably, when it is time for the items to be cleaned up, I will be the one doing it.  I am not expecting anyone to clean up after me.  I literally don't think about cleaning up after myself.  I make dinner and leave it all over the counter to clean up when I do dishes.  I leave my clothes on the floor to clean up when I clean whatever room I happen to be disrobing in.  For some reason, it just doesn't cross my mind to do it right away.

The girls are driving me crazy.  They are good kids, but they leave their junk everywhere.  By junk I don't just mean toys and clothes, I mean garbage.  Like playing cards with half the cards missing, or scraps of paper they doodled on.  They don't have many of their own toys, but I was letting them play with mine (my mom gave me most of my sisters' and my old toys).  Until they were leaving them all over the floor to get stepped on and broken.  Or leaving them outside in the rain.  So now they have pretty much nothing to do.

I won't let them treat my toys like garbage, and I won't buy them new stuff until they show me they can take care of my stuff, and the few things they do have.  We are attempting to make it easier by putting all three of them in one bedroom, so we can have a reading room, and a play room.  But it takes time to move everything and buy shelves, furniture, etc.

I need a playroom desperately, because having the kids play in my living room for very long drives me nuts.  They start running around and jumping and screaming and then I want to tear my hair out.  Then the room looks horrible covered in books and papers and toys and blankets.  I literally want to cry just thinking about it.

I kind of think one child, or multiple children many years apart is what is perfect for me.  I LOVE when its just Little Guy and me, it is calm most of the time, he is content to read or play while I clean and rarely runs around like a maniac when its just him (although when it is just him, I do let him run around a little more and jump off things because it doesn't get out of control).  We spend lots of fun time together, going places, or reading, or learning, or doing chores.  When everyone is here I just want to go hide (and sometimes I do).  As I have said before, the girls are super sweet.  They are helpful, kind, obedient, and respectful.  But I can't handle the constant requests for attention, the decibel level, the arguing, the questions about things they already know the answer to.  I mean I can handle it, but I find it unpleasant.

My whole house is over ran with stuff.  It is driving me crazy.  I can't clean it because there are not places for everything.  I have boxes of random stuff (books, toys, paperwork, craft stuff, school supplies, etc) all over.  Everyone has more clothes than can fit in their drawers, but we wear all of it so I don't really want to get rid of anything.  My couches are both covered with clean laundry.  My counters are covered in piles of papers.

I have been trying to get rid of stuff, but since I want at least a tiny bit of money for it, it isn't going very quickly.  So now in addition to all the piles of stuff I don't know what to do with, I have piles of stuff that I want to get rid of.  Despite the many cubic feet of stuff I have decluttered, the house feels as messy and overwhelming as ever.  The only room that is clean is Little Guy's because all his toys fit on his toy shelf and since Z left there is room for all his clothes in the closet.  It isn't organized, but the room is tidy enough to be pleasant and comfortable.  I am actually typing this post IN his room on the floor because it is the only room that isn't unpleasant and overwhelming to spend time in.  Well that and he was upstairs having independent play time while Michael baby-sat because I was at the dentist so I thought I would give him so quantity time (its not quality time because I am typing this, but he spends most of his waking time with me, so its probably okay).

I have no idea how to get my house in order.  I have no idea how to sell my stuff (I am not asking for big money here, just like $5 for a bag of baby clothes, or a huge box of books but the Facebook B/S/T groups are not buying!).  I have no idea how to get the girls to take care of their stuff (and feel like a hypocrite asking them to keep their room clean since I can't keep my house clean).  I have no idea how to keep them from spitting on the sink faucet every time they brush their teeth.

If I ever get my house clean, and have space for them to play and read, I am going to make strict rules on how their rooms must look when they are done with them or I will ground them from that room.  But right now there is no where for their stuff, and there is no where for my stuff and I want to throw it all away and start over, except I am extremely cheap, and fairly sentimental, so that will never, ever happen.

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