Day #4 - Christmas is coming

Dee's comment from the other day sparked an idea... She really liked the idea of tucking away a donation bag and just adding to it - me too!
The trick is putting stuff in it as soon as you think you might - and not looking back! You can't sort the bag later - the items have to go in and stay in. If you look, you second guess, if you second guess it ends up back in your home - and very likely not in its proper place!

So I have one and a half bags already full and guess what is in them - TOYS! What a great time of year to purge the toys in the kiddie rooms and living rooms to make room for Christmas season when all your family and friends and Old Saint Nick will descent upon our homes in a frenzy of boxes, toys and those twisty grey things that could elicit a curse word from the most upstanding of citizens.

Go now, donate 3 things and throw away any toys that are missing pieces. This is a great chore for today! Put batteries in toys that you are keeping and I bet the kids start playing with them all over again. Plus - you get to check your stash of batteries so you know what to buy for those pesky presents. (If we need Ds we have Cs... If we need AAA we have AA - you know the drill!)

Check your puzzles too. That's a great activity for the kids - like this, "Hey kids, let's put these puzzles together and if there are pieces missing throw it out!"
Then they say, "Cool Mom! That sounds like a blast!"
Then you do that.
Don't go saving the pieces for crafts (well, if you must just save like 5 pieces - but not five boxes)
You know you aren't going to draw a new piece to fit the empty space right?
Chuck it!

Start with that - more to come later today!
Sorry I forgot my sink picture last night but I swear it was spotless and I cleaned my whole powder room top to bottom in exactly 15 minutes and 29 seconds (man my timer is LOUD!) and I even had time to clean the floor on my hands and knees, the baseboards and the doorknob in and out. I wiped the whole door and toothpaste marks on the wall and then all the usual good stuff like the sink and toilet...
Fresh as a daisy.

Today I will tackle the dining room too - how does yours look - mine is SCARY! Maybe I will give ya the before and after if I can stomach the shame!
(No really, it is scary because all of my Halloween decorations are stacked on top of it not put away - terrible!)