I get real hugs from all of my kids, even my big boys. The little ones hug me and I tell Silas that when he gets home it will be his birthday and I’ll be ready for him with strawberry cake and presents. Everyone heads downstairs to leave, while I lay down to nurse Job to sleep for his nap. Jonny returns a minute later to ask me, “Did you mean to leave two eyes on the stove on?” “Um, no.” I bet that makes him feel real confident about leaving me and Job here while the rest of the family travels to North Carolina for the fossil festival.
I hear the front door slam for the last time, and rather than feel excited, a deep angst stirs in my stomach. I’m nervous. Really nervous. I try not to cry. I pray that God would use this time to help me pull myself and my house together. I put Job in his crib and do the first thing: I start a load of laundry. I walk back upstairs and hear a honk from outside. I thought they were already gone, but they are just pulling out of the drive.
The house is a big mess, and I’ve got a big mental list of what I want to accomplish. First thing, I’ll make a cup of tea and a handwritten list. I hope Job takes a nice long nap.
I wrote those words right after my family left last Wednesday. I never made that cup of tea, but I did make a list and Job did take a long nap that first afternoon. The list was a little (a lot) ridiculous. It included: paint the entire living room, paint the insides of all kitchen cabinets, paint the outsides of all kitchen cabinets, stretch and frame finished cross stitch projects myself, organize pantry, start seeds, and paint living room shelves. Oh, and clean the entire house, clearing all horizontal surfaces of clutter. I guess I’m pretty silly. I had a six month old baby hanging with me, and he doesn’t nap that much.
A combination of things has happened over the past eight months or so to render me and my house both a big mess. A difficult pregnancy was followed by a postpartum period characterized by pain and depression. I hit what I guess might be described as the bottom a few weeks ago when I finally decided to visit the doctor. She speculated that I was suffering from postpartum depression. I think the fact that I kept starting to cry as I described my symptoms might have had something to do with that. At any rate, a bunch of bloodwork and one MRI later and I was deemed healthy enough. The truth is that I was exhausted both physically and emotionally. When Jonny started talking about hotel reservations for the trip we’ve been planning for a year, I shocked myself by saying, “I don’t think I should go.” I knew he could handle it and I can’t remember the last time I was home for more than part of a day without a houseful of children.
So here I was alone in the house, trying to figure out how to spend what was simultaneously an enormous amount of time and a precious little bit of time depending on how I looked at it, to best create an environment that I could begin to thrive in again. It’s amazing what a mess a small house + seven kids + a mom who isn’t functioning well can turn into. This is despite the fact that yes, my kids have chores. The house still gets messy when I am not staying on top of everyone, which I just haven’t been.
I spent the first day and a half just cleaning. It was so bad that I used a broom to sweep clutter from under furniture and out of corners. I emailed a friend, “Where did all this CRAP come from?” It was incredibly overwhelming and upsetting. I realized that there was no way my list was going to have many lines drawn through it.
I stayed up too late while they were gone. I wore scrubs and ate a lot of boxed cereal. I accomplished a lot, but only a fraction of what was on my list.
I finally got around to putting some prints (all by Alice Cantrell) that I’ve had waiting in frames, and I ended up dropping off my cross stitch pieces to be framed professionally. These little things that make a house pretty, that make it a home, I was able to place my focus there once things were clean and orderly. A free leather couch from Craigslist and the products of my recent furniture painting episodes really helped as well. I need to stop denying myself the joy of making things pretty for the fact that I know that every single day my house will get messy again. It can still be pretty beneath the mess. I did empty all my lower cabinets and paint the insides white. This may sound a little nutty, but they were just primed wood inside and really needed a durable finish of some sort. In the process my drawers and cabinets were organized and it really made all the difference. Other than some basic cleaning around the house, nothing else on my list was accomplished.
I enjoyed my time with Job, and I did make a (delicious) strawberry pie (recipe here) and homemade ice cream (favorite kitchen appliance
When Jonny asked over the phone whether I missed everyone, I answered, “I love you, but I don’t miss you.” I realize that I’m too honest sometimes. Of course I was happy when they pulled into our driveway at nearly midnight on Saturday. The little ones woke up and came in the house looking for me right away. Beatrix and Silas climbed into my lap and I was so glad to hold them. Larkspur came walking up the stairs behind them with a wad of gum stuck in her hair so large that it was a bit horrifying. Keats started naming all the junk that they’d eaten, saying that they only had one healthy meal, beans and rice, and that they had actually eaten that for breakfast. And well, you all know that story. My three oldest deemed the house “too clean.” Punks.
With everyone home, our house is messy again, but I have a better handle on things and I am still carrying that feeling of cleaning a room and having it remain that way for longer than five minutes.
I may never go to the fossil festival again. Though if I do choose to stay home next time, I’ll be planning meals and buying groceries ahead of time to send with my family.
p.s. Thank you, Jonny. Thank you.
Oh goodness, Ginny I’ve come to love your blog! So sorry you had such a hard time post partum, but if it’s any consolation, I would be many time worse of than you if I were in your shoes with 7 kids!! You are doing so great lady! So many of us love your truth-telling and family life as portrayed in your blog. We can see the talented you and the pretty homemaking you create underneath all of life’s little struggles.
Thanks for your honesty in a world that often glosses over the rough spots – no one’s house is perfect, but the home can have beautiful parts because that is where the love is shared. I am glad you had a little time for yourself and that can be a good example to your children, as well. I hope your depression subsides and you are in my prayers.
Ginny,
We love you x Your blog, your family, you ..are a daily source of inspiration to me. You help to keep me grounded. Can you have natural learners and a clean house? Find some more pretty baskets and create small pockets of order throughout your house. Maybe you can make a new quilt a have a lovely memory from this period you are going through. I made several….. and I now look back and feel very loved.
Em and family
Ginny,PLEASE don’t be so hard on yourself.Remember you have 7 children,and so much on your plate No mom could have everything perfect!!!Now is the tine you are suppose to let everyone care and love and nurture YOU!!!!!Accept any help offered.Again,please don’t be so hard on yourself,your an inspiration to all of us!!!!Hang in there,sending huge hugs,xoxoxoxoxo
Hang in there and use medication if necessary. I have seen it make a world of difference. A cleaning service can be a life saver. It might be worth some other sacrifice. I used it off and on when my four were homeschooling. I tried so hard to help my husband understand how much I needed time alone AT HOME. A couple times he got it and took the kids out, never overnight! Your husband is a gem. Funny thing, even though it’s just the two of us I still need time at home alone. Thanks for sharing with us through your difficulties.
Thank you for sharing about your struggles with postpartum depression. I had intense postpartum anxiety after my daughter was born in 2011 and it still is hard to talk about.The postpartum year can be such a delicate time; hang in there!
I had no idea you were not feeling well and that your house isn’t up to snuff (to you.) It all looks great–your messy is my good ’nuff! I have three grown kids and remember instantly the EXHAUSTION and frustration of the messes, something my husband didn’t seem to get. Now my house is neater, (not neat,) but without kids in it. A bit lonely at times, but I’m not exhausted and frustrated anymore.
One trick a friend told me about is the easiest thing ever. She would assign each kid a pick-up number, according to age. My three would each have to pick up 20, 10 and 5 things, (but more as they got older,) and they liked to race against each other. They understood the items didn’t have to belong to them but they had to be put at least in the general area of the correct place. I was always amazed at how much better, even superficially, the house looked after only 5 minutes! They never seemed to get tired of it either, though I didn’t institute this every day.
Some kids are really good about helping out and some kids are a pain in the patootie, arguing all the way. It’s easy to suggest that if you’re tough they’ll do the right thing, but that isn’t always the case–choose your battles. 🙂 Enjoy your pretty, newly-painted-inside cabinets!
Thanks for yet another lovely, real post! I am a visual person/learner/whatever and the sight of mess & disorder wreak havoc on my peace of mind. We have eight children (15 yo – 17 months) and homeschool. Also, my dear husband is a bit of a slob. The children have chores and my husband tries. But the gist of it is that I live with nine mess-makers and I seem to be the only one determined to keep order and cleanliness a priority! Ah well, as I pray at the end of each rosary in the Hail Holy Queen I am in a vale of tears and perfection won’t be mine until (I hope) I make it to heaven.
Ginny this post is just wonderful, and clearly needed by a good many of us. I’m very impressed with your industriousness especially considering you still had the baby with you. I’m sure if it was me I would have done exactly the same thing as you right up through the making the list part at which point I would have congratulated myself on making such excellent plans and read/napped until the children returned 🙂
Hi Ginny,
This post really spoke to me! I have seven children (11 yrs to 7 months) and homeschool. I have really struggled with both mental and physical energy since my twins were born seven months ago. And when my house is messy and dirty it makes everything seem so much worse. I am JUST starting to feel better (a little). But I want you to know that your blog has been such an inspiration to me. In fact, whenever I feel discouraged I read a few of your posts and I feel so inspired by the beauty in your photos. One thing that has really helped me with energy and clarity recently is frankincense oil (and a lot of prayer!!) Just wanted to pass that along!
Ginny, every single photo I have ever seen of your house, I’ve thought it was beautiful. Even when it’s messy. Maybe especially when it’s messy. It is so full of life but underneath and among the mess is so much beauty.
I’m sorry you’ve been struggling. (And amazed you’ve been able to keep up with this space. I also struggle with depression, and I can’t stay on top of the kids and the house, never mind the blog, when I’m in a darker place.) I’m just coming out of one of those places recently. (And then I hurt my foot running two weeks ago, so even though I’m feeling more motivated I can’t actually get up and do anything. It’s always something, isn’t it?) I know I’m not alone in saying I appreciate your honesty about it all. I hope things are starting to feel brighter for you. xo
That pie looks refreshing. I need to give it a try. I have to admit I have a little clean house jealously lol. Maybe I need to send my crew away for a day or two to catch up on our wreck, I mean disorganization.
Thank you for sharing, Ginny. It’s really validating to hear from other women who have struggled or are struggling. When my third was born my health deterioriated for a time and I plummeted through the next three months unsure of who I was and what I was doing, only realizing later what I mess I was. One visit to a counselor that I cried for an entire hour through confirmed and validated my emotions as okay and real. Your blog and yarn along posts, along with Gretchen’s parallel struggles (www.hesowsandshesews.com) helped me so much during that time last year. I still have up and down days but overall feel like I have returned to being myself again.
I’m a list maker too, but instead of getting discouraged about how much is on the list that I didn’t get to, I get great satisfaction from crossing out something (anything!) on the list. It means I actually did get something done that day other than routine stuff. If I can cross off two things – WOW! My list doesn’t have a time frame, it’s just stuff I want to get done eventually.
The biggest help to cleaning up (besides the mess-making kids) are big baskets/boxes. We can go through a room quickly and throw every misplaced thing into a basket and then sort the junk into smaller baskets by room designation. A sanity saver. When things get really bad, I might shout, “O.K. no dessert until the living room is picked up!” The kids are pretty good about dividing up the labor, assigning someone to put all the books away, someone else to pick up the legos, someone to sweep. My kids also don’t mind cleaning as much if they can listen to an audio book at the same time.
I hate to break this to you, but you are not going to be “able to keep everything organized or stay on top of the younger kids.” Not unless you have domestic help, like a Calpurnia. There are more of them and they have more energy. Just accept that, don’t be critical of yourself about what you “should” do and do the best you can. You won’t ruin your kids. Some of the happiest and most well-adjusted young people I know come from messy homes. As long as there is order and peace in the family relationships, it doesn’t so much matter what the external, material atmosphere is.
Thank you for being honest, Ginny. I only have two children but it gets overwhelming sometimes, even for me. I’m currently enjoying a half-day alone while my in-laws take them to the zoo. I had a haircut and brought home a cup of coffee and a roll. Now I’m reading blogs and doing laundry. The main thing is that it’s quiet and I’m not taking care of anyone. It’s refreshing and I’ll be glad to see them again now that I’ve had a break.
Dear Ginny, thank you for such a beautiful and honest post. Your strength amazes me. I do not have children, or even a husband– I am a college student. But I have also struggled with depression and anxiety. You are so brave to share your experiences here in this space, and I am so grateful for it. Please do not be afraid to seek help again. We’re all here rooting for you! God bless you. You’ll be in my prayers today.
How wonderful that you made the decision to stay home. I have done the same in the past, feeling guilty and then crying when everyone but the baby leaves… but then regrouping, refilling, and getting myself and home in better condition than when the family left.
Thinking of you Ginny with love….
Tonya
I just want to add my love and respect for you. Your honesty is so encouraging to those who have been there, or will be there. Post pardum depression is no joke, please take care of yourself and allow others to care for you also! Your blog is one of the few I visit continually, and I pray for you often(is that weird?! 🙂 you encourage me so, and I hope you know you aren’t alone. I wish I could come clean your house for you 🙂 or paint your cabinets with you 🙂 I have all the doors off my kitchen cabinets because I’m doing the same thing! Slowly….. It’s been months, and will be still! Sometimes the only advice I follow is “just one day at a time.” But ask for help if you need it! Xoxo
I always think your house looks pretty Ginny. I really admire you as a person, creator, writer and mother. I hope you feel better soon!
Hi Ginny,
When I read your husband’s post I was so impressed that a) he has so much courage ! And b) you were able to relinquish that much control to let them go all off with out you and your preparations! Truly inspiring and wonderful. I am in desperate need of a mental health day off – I am becoming short tempered way more often and my sixth baby is almost a year and I haven’t gotten away alone except for short walks since his birth. Shame on me. I am kicked in the pants to see your family’s courage and surrender to let go of perfectionism and give mom a much needed home alone time. I love how your husband seemed to revel in the less than perfect eating while on the road. Revel bc it is freeing and ok to embrace the good over the perfect- the done over the good -even (as my friend Clare shared w/ me). I also wanted to say that your words about not denying yourself making things pretty just bc they will get messy again and your action of taking your pretty cross stitch to be framed spoke straight to my heart. I will be writing that down to remind myself in my homemaking and living! So encouraging. Thank you for your blog and sharing yourself with us faceless readers!
Sarah in St. Louis
Please add my voice to the chorus of heart-felt thanks being expressed to you for this, Ginny. I only have one child, an eight year old son. I nursed him until he was twelve months old, and I never felt rested or sane until he was weaned. I had to go back to work at a high-stress job when he was only eight weeks old, and felt tremendous pressure to appear normal (if you define normal as pumping breast milk multiple times a day for ten months), but inside I was broken into a million pieces. My husband never did seem to understand what was wrong with me, or what I needed, mainly because I couldn’t articulate it. I wish I could have shown him this post at that time in our lives. Time alone at home is essential, and doctors should prescribe it. Since they don’t, I’m grateful you shared your experience…it is so common, but so seldom discussed, and your honesty is balm to the soul. My prayers for your continued healing.
Thank you. I hope you continue to feel better. A clean house always makes me feel better too!
I love reading your blog, maybe not commenting all the time, but love the way you sharing things and can see through your posts you got a big heart!
Hope you feeling better!
God bless you and the whole family!!!
Much love,
Liuba G
xxx
I so hope you feel better. I get the same feelings a lot and I don’t have any kids at home anymore. And I really think our house is far messier now than when they were home. It’s as if the house is shrinking! Sometimes I just let it go, I have no choice.
Love, love the baby feet! You should frame those pics for the wall. They make me smile everytime.
My favourite post of any blog.
You totally hit the nail on the head! Of life with lots of children, of clean/ dirty houses and the stress they cause, of the crap that we ALL have (physically and emotionally).
I love your honesty – thank you.
And your house is beautiful x
Honest and beautiful, Ginny.
Hi,
I hope you feel happy and normal again soon. Thank you for this post.
Beautiful.
~heidi
Beautiful story! It’s real and you will feel like yourself in time. I went through it and “faked it until I made it.” Best wishes!!! 🙂
Hi Ginny,
Thank you for sharing this Post. I truly appreciate it when a blogger goes out of their way to share things that they could so easily decide not to – it shows a great kindness to the rest of us and it just makes me love you even more. I agree with what Rebecca has said. I totally relate to where you are at though, I was there a few months ago, everything piling up and feeling so overwhelmed and not knowing where to start (it’s in a Post called “Dire Straits”). Life is messy with a large family, it just is. All the time. But sometimes things get to a point where it is too much. I think I need a couple of days like this.
Take care!
Mel x
All of this–amen! I can never decide whether having a smaller house makes it all easier or harder. It’s less to keep clean, of course, but you also have to be so much better at editing. Glad you got what sounds like a much needed break.
I have only two kids, but they’re both toddlers, and just yesterday I was having a little bit of a meltdown at the messes they make. I guess I have these a lot, but yesterday, following a visit from my mother in law during which I futilely expended myself trying to keep everything perfect for 72 hours straight (impossible), it was one of those “I’m getting rid of everything and someone has to come and take my kids away so I can make some order here!” meltdowns. I know I don’t know the half of the clutter and chaos and thwarted attempts at order that seven kids can bring, but I think I share your standards and that link between sanity and a house that’s pretty well ordered. For me, having a bit of time to putter around my home alone is THE thing I most long for, and then, as glad as I am to see my kids, it’s SUCH a terrible letdown when the time is over and I feel like I haven’t made a dent in my own aspirations and expectations. So much so that I worry I shouldn’t have even bothered. But that’s not true, and I have to try and focus on how restorative it is for ME to putter around, not on what change I have or haven’t effected on my environment and whether it will last (it won’t). I empathize so much, Ginny! And am grateful for all that you share here. Prayers for you on “reentry”!
I have a cleaning lady that comes to my house every two weeks. I can’t afford her, but I can’t afford not to have her. I have declared it is cheaper to have a cleaning lady than marriage counseling. She keeps my house from falling apart and is a breath of fresh air every two weeks. For the record I will go two weeks without gas in the car because I can’t afford to fill it up, but I still won’t live without my cleaning lady.
Hahaha I love that you said you didn’t miss them!
I do the same thing when my husband goes out of town: Make a big list, get a fraction of it done and eat whatever I can find in the house instead of going to the store. PS: Crispix is the best!!
Oh that Johnny…. he’s a good one for sure. Every now and then you write something that really makes me wish we were neighbors. You put together me exact thoughts on a (somewhat) tidy house being linked to your sanity. Me too, me too!! I want you to know that I *always* think your home is beautiful. The mess reminds me it isn’t just me and you have a knack for putting things together in a beautiful way…. truly.
xo~
Dear Ginny, This is a brave post, if you don’t mind me saying so, and I am so glad you wrote it. I wished I could have read something like this a few years ago when I felt much the same. At home with my four boys ( two of which were a baby and a toddler at the time) and a husband who travelled quite a bit, I would feel so overwhelmed by my home’s messiness and the futility of staying on top of it.
I’m happy you went to see your doctor and I hope that path will help you. I know sometimes it just helped me so much to remember, and “self-validate” how exhausted I really was (how could someone so sleep deprived be anything less?) and to cut myself a LOT of slack and focus on what brought me joy and peace so I could then bring that to the rest of my family. It makes me sad, still, to remember that time but I have learned so much from it. I’m sure you will do much the same:) Wishing you a lovely day and thanking you again for this post, I’m sure it will help lots of other moms out there feel better about themselves.
Jonny IS a saint! I know Eric couldn’t handle that many on his own. But when my inlaws are over, I take every chance to stay behind when they go off with Eric. Having a quiet house to work in peace is the best medicine. I’m glad you enjoyed it and I hope you can do it again soon!
P.S. The journal is sooo good! Exactly what I needed. Thanks for the recommendation.
Thanks for this post. Meeting me where I am as well. I have a three month old, 4 other smalls, a husband always out of the house. Feeling behind on everything and pretty panicked about the whole thing. I do see people out and think, Jeesh, how do they do it? My children have chores, sometimes I think too many, and the house is still, well, a wreck. ‘Tis the season of having small children, is what I like to think. And I just had to chuckle because my husband bought me a new mop that has a rectangle head. He asked how it was and I said, Great! I can push all the kids clothes and toys back in to their rooms without bending over.
The picture of Jonny yawning and baby crying is pretty priceless.
Sending warm thoughts to you.
This post typifies why I love this blog. Beautiful.
Wow…what a beautiful post that I am sure so many women will find inspiring, because so many women are there with you, but isolated and feel alone. I have to say that the mess you showed in your pictures is beautiful. I love your pictures.
I am pleased that you managed to find some time for yourself. I hope that you can continue to make time for yourself in the future xx
Sending lots of (hugs) Ginney. I truly appreciate your honesty. I have also suffered from PPD and go through periods of feeling overwhelmed. There is something really beautiful in sharing these stories with one another. I love your blog for the way it honours both the immense joys it is also not afraid to honour the painful places.
I’m so glad you got this time to refresh and renew your spirits 🙂
You have such a beautiful family. xx
I can relate to not always seeing the prettiness or order beneath the day to day mess and I truly admire your honesty. I wish you well in finding the right way for you to relax, rest and regain your strength.
We were speaking on the phone while you were painting those cabinets. I had no idea you spilled the paint! Wish I lived close enough to come and help clean up. It is hard to always be the center of what we deem “chaos” around us. It is a mother’s destiny I believe. But God has given you , dear Ginny, the grace to raise these children and be this sweet wife. He will also give you the strength to see them through!
Love you!
I read the story of the kids going with Jonny and thought…there aren’t many of them but you married a man like I married, willing to take six kids on a vacation alone. My husband has six kids (our five and an exchange student) EVERY weekend while I work. He thinks nothing of piling them all in the car and going on an adventure for the weekend.
We are lucky to have found husbands like these, they are keepers.
Hee, hee. I love those photos of Jonny and Job. Too cute!
Nice job on tackling the list. We never get it all done but it feels so good to make a dent.
I don’t often comment because you are such a blogging big-wig and get so much affirmation from others’ saying the same thing that I would say that I figure “Ah well- it’s been said, she knows.” But I absolutely must comment on this post.
One thing I admire about this blog, Ginny and about you as a person is that you are honest. This blog isn’t just a happy place but a real place. While many women shy away from admitting problems or struggles or pain on the blog thinking it will show weakness or inferiority…I personally feel that to do so shows quite the opposite.
In your sharing of the dark, hidden places you are made more strong and more admirable in my mind and….helpful. Because other women experience the same things you do but are too afraid to admit it and then begin to believe they are the ONLY ones who experience those things (because no one else ever does either) which then makes them believe they are somehow failures and not only that, but the ONLY failures.
This post really spoke to me- as many of your posts do. Your life is beautiful, but sometimes it can be messy. And sometimes it can be dark. And when it gets that way, it doesn’t make you a failure- it needs to make you a warrior. You need to look that darkness square in the face and DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. Fight it, fix it, change it in whatever way you think will help. To pretend our lives are never dark will never, ever help inspire other people facing dark places to do what needs to be done to make things right again.
So glad for Jonny to have listened to your needs and give you that time. I can see just how refreshing it was for you and how much of a change it made on your home. No you didn’t paint every surface of your home before they got back (crazy list!) but you did SO MUCH and I agree entirely about making beautiful spots ‘underneath the mess’.
All this to say, thanks Ginny for inspiring us in all the RIGHT ways. And many happy thoughts and a prayer for many bright, cheerful days in your future.
Thank, you Rebecca–just thank you.
What a gift Jonny gave you. I love being home alone too. And thank you for sharing your favorite kitchen appliance. We’ve been thinking about getting an ice cream maker and I had no idea where to start.
It’s the best. You can make so many different yummy things with it!
Bless your heart. I always appreciate your honesty. It never fails to make me like you even more.
All I can say is you got an awful lot done in four days. Painting, cleaning, childcare, baking and friends. Wow. I do agree with Mary, my 2 kids were never consistently great at chores but all possessions had to be picked up and put away (read thrown in their rooms) each night. Your children will thank you when they live on their own.
Cathie, my older kids do chores, but I’ve let the younger ones get away with too much over the last year or so and they are the messy ones! I’m really hopeful that after Jonny finished his construction projects that we can get more organized and get a better system going for everyone.
There is a book called 401 Ways to Get Your Kids to Work at Home or something like that. It has been around forever. I used it when my son was young and he is 33. As I recall it talked about doing the kids a disservice if you don’t teach them and make them responsible for cleaning up their home. They will someday move out and you won’t move out with them and they will expect somebody else to clean for them. I also recall (I think) that it talked about small jobs, not clean the whole house and making each job a fun learning experience. Anyway, as I recall, that book really changed my attitude about the house and cleaning it.
Mary,
You are RIGHT ON! I make my kids clean up after themselves, AND everything has a place. Even the four year old, knows when he comes in the house, first he removes his shoes and puts them in the shoe basket and hangs his jacket on his hook. It makes life so much simpler for the mom who is trying to manage many kids. When we are in a rush to walk out the door, no looking for shoes or jackets, they are right where they are supposed to be.
I’ll have to check that out. Thanks, Mary! My kids actually do have chores, and lots of them. That’s not to say that the older boys do things to my standards. 🙂 Our house has been under construction for so many months now, and it’s lacking in storage so that I just haven’t been able to keep everything organized or stay on top of the younger kids the way I should. I appreciate your advice!