We started with scrapbooking supplies, which filled two boxes and her rolling case from Michael's. These include paper, stickers, markers, photos, notes from middle school, movie stubs, you name it. She did a very good job of handing things over and simply filing them in the appropriate box. With one stack she said, "Mom, this is very expensive stuff. Set it aside until I find a protective sleeve." Pardon me while I chuckle with a mix of pride and pretention. Would that be a chortle?
The bookshelves proved much easier even though we're not done with them yet. She identified four books she wants in the guest room, so we brought those in. The remaining have filled two boxes already with a fair remainder littering her bed.
In the final three minutes of last night's 30 minutes, we cleared most of her dresser simply by heaping her jewelry and assorted small boxes into one shoebox. We felt we'd run a marathon, but looking around the room, it appears we barely made a dent. That's okay, though. Slow and steady does the trick.
I think one of the most difficult aspects of this project is figuring out how to fit it into the rest of our busy schedule. For example, look at what yesterday was supposed to be:
All the stuff in red is Burgundy's commitments. In blue are mine and Mark's. Burgundy can't drive yet. Ugh.
Fortunately, her sectionals (uppermost red section) were cancelled, allowing her much more time to do homework and catch up on studying. Everything else stayed the same, but it felt a little less crazed.
Finally, I want her to start now with establishing routines. I see three major "conversion times" in her day where routines should be implemented: morning, afternoon upon returning from school, and evening before bed.
Morning: This routine is pretty well in place, but not intentionally, and the bed usually doesn't get made.
- Make bed
- Get dressed to the shoes/hair/makeup
- Eat breakfast/make lunch
- Put away books and purse in bedroom on shelf
- 15 minutes free time
- Calendar review/organize task list
- Homework
- 15 minutes straightening room, putting away clothes, preparing school stuff for tomorrow
- Personal hygiene
- Lay out clothes for tomorrow
- If there's time, spend a few minutes journaling or reading; this is time to wind down and relax
Today we'll go back into the room and continue our excavation. Here are photos of the room after last night's efforts. I'm going to try to post daily room photos so we can watch it progress in retrospect.
View of the doorway from the bed.
Proceeding to the right.
And the closet
The book-laden bed
The window
The scrapbooking corner
And the desk with a better view of the scrapbooking corner
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