Puttering

Puttering is a term my cousin, Corinne, once used in her blog.  Corinne has seven kids.  SEVEN.  And she's totally beautiful, organized, and sane.  Plus, she's super talented and she has a clean house.  I don't know her secret for everything else, but she swears the reason she has a clean house is because she "putters".

Puttering means seeing a toy on the floor and instead of walking past it while thinking that you'll have to get to that in a few minutes, you go ahead and scoop the toy up, put it away and then move on to whatever you were doing.  (I only recommend this unless the said thing you were doing involves potty training toddlers...)

It takes but a second to pick up the toy and it's the only way to keep a clean house amidst children that don't understand the sanity that comes from a floor free of debris.

For some reason this term has been on my mind daily lately.  It could be because I have more children at home lately, creating more messes than normal.  Or, it could be that whenever I get a little frustrated with the clutter level of my toy room, or the dining room table, I happen to visit a home that is at a level of chaos never reached at my house, and I'm really, really grateful I began puttering after I read about Corinne's secret.  (FYI, don't get paranoid, I'm not talking about anyone who reads my blog, and if you've ever been to my house you know I don't putter in the toy room until the kids are in bed...)