Cluttered Home, Cluttered Mind? Why I'm choosing to Konmari my home.

I've ALWAYS been a disorganized mess. Even as a child and all through college and into adulthood I've never been able to have a clutter free organized space. My school binders were a systemless, no-way-am-I-gonna-find-what-I-need-to-study wreck.

And we aren't even going to discuss my closet!

When my parents would get on to me about my inability to be neat and say I will never be able to find anything I always responded with, "I know where everything is. If I put it away I won't remember where I put things." (This of course was not the same line of thinking that I had with my binder!)

Here I am, 25 years old with 15 years experience (😂) and living in my second home in a row with very little storage. Truth be told, this place has way less storage than the old place and while I did downsize when we moved, I obviously didn't do enough.

The truth is, I've been hanging on to clothes I haven't been able to wear in years. Socks past their primes and missing their mates. I have stuffed animals from when I was a child and ones my kids had that are shoved away and never see the light of day. I have handbags, purses, and shopping totes that just peek from their hiding places, wherever I have tried to stash them.

And the mountains of laundry that don't ever get put away due to lack of space and my lack of motivation are shameful!

Oh and last but not least, there is the ever growing Mount Paperest...bills, junk mail, medical paperwork...it's all contributing to the growing peak!!!!

So why am I dedicated to start getting my life in order starting right now, today?

The truth is I'm easily stressed. I have high anxiety. I have a short temper. The only place I feel "at home" and peaceful is in the woods but never ever here in my own home. Why don't I ever feel joyful and peaceful in my own home?

I think the answer is simple. My cluttered disorganized home is wreaking havoc and causing chaos in my mind and spirit!

I stumbled across a post in one of the online mom groups I'm in that highly recommended the Konmari method so I joined the Konmari group and excitedly purchased the book below authored by the self taught Queen of all things organizational, the Marie Kondo herself! (Konmari is a clever play on her name!)

So far I have made more progress in a couple of days of following her methods than years of attempting to declutter slowly and "bit by bit." She addresses why trying to declutter and organize over time doesn't work and doesn't lead to long term success. Her principles and plan for overhauling your home are simple and work!

So it is with a joyful and hopeful heart that I embark in the Konmari journey!!!

Light Blue for Laryngomalacia

July 10th was laryngomalacia awareness day and this year Coping With Latyngomalacia asked that those who wanted to show support and awareness for this airway defect paint their nails light blue.

❤️This year, I painted my nails light blue for my Little Fox, who is a Laryngomalacia warrior. ❤️

So, what exactly is Laryngomalacia? Laryngomalacia, or LM for short, is a congenital abnormality of the laryngeal cartilage that results in obstruction of the airway. I have had it described to me by a doctor as my son having a "floppy" larynx. LM is the most common cause of stridor (noisy breathing)  in infants.

Being the parent of a LM warrior can be a terrifying and stressful journey. It is scary when you hear stridor especially if you have never been exposed to the sounds of stridor, it is alarming. When your baby has every feed pour out of their mouth and nose, when you witness your child experience retractions while trying to breathe, when you are faced with lack of weight gin or worse weight loss, you are in a constant state of anxiety and fear while also being hyper alert to every little thing.

And then it happened. He stopped breathing. It was late at night and he just stopped breathing. I lifted him from the bassinet we had next to the bed and my heart regained its beat when I heard him take a breath.

I didn't sleep the rest of the night. I held him. I kissed him. And while holding him close on our front porch swing, I begged him to not leave me and to just breathe. I was overwhelmed with emotion.

The rest of the day was uneventful as far as his breathing was concerned. I was constantly on watch.

My husband was hopeful it was just a fluke.

The next night it happened again. But this time, after being unsuccessful in having him resume and continue breathing, 911 had to be called. The incident was labeled as an Apparent Life Threatening Event, or ALTE since he had stopped breathing over 30 seconds.

He was admitted for testing and observation for several nights and we ended up with a hospital grade apnea monitor for several months.

Thankfully we have not had another incident of an ALTE but I have hardly slept in 11 months. I check on him every night multiple times a night. Even with him sleeping right next to my side of the bed, those two incidents have left me unable to relax enough to sleep.

I'm an exhausted mess but this amazing little boy is worth every restless night. ❤️

*Not every baby with laryngomalacia will experience an Apparant Life Altering Event*