When did I become a shover?

Growing up I tended to be very neat and organized. I was almost obsessively meticulous about how things hung in my closet, how my bed was made, and how everything had its place (usually in a nice, neat plastic tray or box of some sort). As I neared child-rearing years I can’t say I grew out of being neat and organized, but I was not nearly as obsessive about it. Many of my friends will retell different stories of my obsessive behavior with organization: Karin requllary attests to the crazy behavior I displayed when she (anyone) would sit on my bed and muss the covers (age 13); Brenna STILL teases me about the vacuum lines in the living room carpet (age 16); My college roommate is still in awe at the organization of my dorm closet (age 20); and KW once said I give single women a bad name because I would make my bed everyday and my linen closet contained neatly folded towels (age 26).

My organization skills have done me well and while I like to think I am still neat and organized, most of it has gone out the window. I think it has something to do with having children.

About a month ago I had to slowly open the linen closet door, one hand on the door trying keep it from flying open under the pressure if its contents and one hand clutching a towel ready to shove a it in there. This was actually a challenge because I had to get the towel in there by opening the door only so far as to not let all the contents of the closet come spilling out. It was at that moment I said, out loud, When did I become a shover? I realized I had succumbed to shoving almost everything anywhere it might fit. Extra pens? Shoved into whichever draw is nearest. Clothes the children have outgrown? Shoved into a paper bag until another day. Toys? Shoved into any bin I can find. So maybe motherhood has created me to be a shover.

My friends will be happy to hear my bed is always a mess – it doesn’t get made unless it is clean sheet day; I definitely do not vacuum to make nice neat lines; my closet is a MESS with no rhyme or reason to its contents; and obviously my linen closet is not orderly. So is my obsession over? I doubt it, but luckily for me it is on hiatus for the next 18 years.