All this diet talk is making me hungry!

Recently, I read a book by Peter Walsh (Oprah's organizing guru) called, "Does This Clutter Make My Butt Look Fat?" It's a really great book for gaining balance in your life so that you don't overeat. I don't generally overeat, but I do have a huge problem with clutter. My kids seem to walk from one room to the next dropping stuff and then acting as though they were never in that room. ARRGHH!! Anyway, Peter Walsh is a rock star. I listen to him on XM radio. What I love about what Peter does, that's different from other organizers, is that he tries to get to the emotional reasons behind the clutter.

Apparently, shopoholism is a problem! Who would have thunk? And I do believe Peter thinks you can have too many shoes!! I know, scandalous!

Anyway, he came on the radio the other morning and my ten year-old goes, "OH NO, IT'S PETER WALSH, I HATE THAT GUY! TURN HIM OFF!"
"Seth, I love Peter Walsh. Why don't you like him?"
"Because every time you listen to him, you make us clean something!" LOL

It's true. When I'm out of balance, my house is a disaster. So I'm taking the rest of the week to do a sweep through the house of excess stuff, and I'm going to schedule one day a month to make sure I don't get overrun. An obvious problem area is books. I thought about getting a Kindle so that I didn't get over loaded with them, but I read too much in the bathtub. I have been getting rid of everything I'm done with reading, and I'm being harsh with all the kids' stuff. I've done my kitchen, my pantry, my closet (since reading Peter's book) and next comes the dreaded kids' rooms.

I just let the maid go because I hate having to be out of the house when they're here, but cleaning isn't my issue. I'm sort of a clean freak, but the clutter! It's like if my kids see a horizontal space, they have to cover it with crap!! Any suggestions? Other than following the four of them around all the time?

And what about you? What physical manifestation does your stress take in your life? How would a friend know you needed a break?

Labels: Organizing, Peter Walsh