From Chaos to Cash

cha·os [key-os] –noun
1. a state of utter confusion or disorder; a total lack of organization or order.
2. any confused, disorderly mass: a chaos of meaningless phrases.
3. the infinity of space or formless matter supposed to have preceded the existence of the ordered universe.
4. movie with Jason Statham

Where do you think I can get a copy of this dictionary?

For the purpose of this entry, chaos is the first definition. Or the second would work as well. Chaos = my basement. Or more specifically my guest room in the basement. Let me back track for a moment so I can explain the origins of this chaos.

Back in March, I posted about the girl's complete unwillingness struggles to clean up after themselves:

The kids have really been struggling with cleaning up after themselves. Madalyn especially. When she puts away her laundry - she doesn't really put it away. Some might go in a drawer. Some hung in the closet. A bit put back into the dirty clothes hamper. Some under the bed. Some in the toy box. I wonder how long it takes her to think of all the ingenious places to stuff her clothes rather than do it the correct way. Perhaps it's an exercise in creativity.

The same sorts of things go on in their basement playroom. They tell me they have picked up. But instead of putting the Polly Pockets back into the cabinet...it's much easier to put some in the cubbie of the coffee table. Or under the rug. Under the computer stand. Or maybe Polly wants to visit with the Barbies in their container - or better yet, Polly wants to get rich with the Sponge Bob monopoly money.

So, I took it all away. A lot of their toys have been in our storage room - Polly's, Barbies, Groovy girls, and other toys that they have outgrown. Then, a few weeks ago, I signed up to participate in the kidsignments consignment sale here in suburbia. And the pressure was on. I had to organize all this crap stuff, label, price, tag, and hang. I had the girls go through their games to make sure all the pieces were there. We got rid of VHS movies. A lot of DVDs. And it all went into my guest room.

Which, last week, looked like this:Except worse. Because I forgot to take a picture before I started working on everything. And I had already boxed up most of the books and movies. I had over 200 pieces of clothing:A lot of them with tags still on them. Alot of them grouped into 2, 3, 4, and even 5 piece outfits. I am sure that Gymboree is suffering financially these days because my girls can no longer wear their matching outfits.

And this: How else can this be described except as chaos. There are costumes. Playmobile "things." 17 Barbies. 4 Ken dolls. 27 Kelly dolls. A Barbie car. Some Groovy girls. And a basket to put Toto in to match the Dorothy Halloween costume. But Toto. And Dorothy are apparently MIA. Perhaps in Oz?

And then I found out that due to all the recalls on the magnetic Polly Pockets, kidsignments was not taking any Pollies. What should I do with all this?

It's a veritable town. There's a mall. An amusement park. A ski lodge. Pools. Cruise ship. Several private airplanes. Limos. And even a car that turns into a helicopter. Obviously not a town I have ever heard of. But a town. That is now in boxes. Should I ebay it? Craigslist? Offer it to my bloggy buddies?

Last week while I was ignoring my blog. And all the blogs on my reader, I was busy, turning chaos into product. That was boxed. And hung. And on Saturday, put into the back of my van. (Notice the towels in my van? Would you put things you want to sell on the floor of your mom van? Somehow I think I am not alone in the level of gross...)

So, then, we were off. Off to the fairgrounds and the huge building that hosts the sale. I checked in an my appointed time. And then went to retrieve all my "treasures" from the car. I am starting to feel the retreat of the chaos.

Next step: wait in line to check in.They have people looking at each item you bring. To make sure there are no stains or rips in the clothes. To make sure things are tagged correctly. To make sure that you are actually bringing kid stuff. And I am not sure what else they are looking for. What else could they be looking for?

I got checked in with only 2 items eliminated (I missed a rip on a pair of leggings. And the telltale sign of red Georgia clay on the bottom of another pair of leggings.). And then I was off. To place all 500 of my items in their correct spots. First stop: clothing (*edited to add: just to give you an idea of the size of this place - the clothes on the right - that is all one size. Two levels. On the left side of the row, another size. Each size has it's own row. Just like this. And some rows have over flow in another area. Oh, and what you see below is girl's clothes. Boys clothes are all done the same way in a different section. This place is massive!).And then costumes:And shoes:There are seas of strollers and cribs:This place is the opposite of chaos. It is completely organized. With labeled boxes and sections. So you know where to put your stuff:And so organized that there are volunteers that make sure that we don't put things in the wrong box.

And the whole endeavor was so worthwhile. Because my guest room is not chaos. It is calm. And peaceful. And most importantly. My chaos will turn to cash.

So, what about you? Do you have a room of chaos? Are you a consigner, shopper, or both? And can I interest you in a town of Polly Pockets?

Week in Review

Another week in paradise at casa Sunshine and Lemonade. Well...except when I lost my temper and went on a mommy rampage. I needed a time out. A whole week of time outs. A sabbatical. I'll just take five minutes. Alone.

The kids have really been struggling with cleaning up after themselves. Madalyn especially. When she puts away her laundry - she doesn't really put it away. Some might go in a drawer. Some hung in the closet. A bit put back into the dirty clothes hamper. Some under the bed. Some in the toy box. I wonder how long it takes her to think of all the ingenious places to stuff her clothes rather than do it the correct way. Perhaps it's an exercise in creativity.

The same sorts of things go on in their basement playroom. They tell me they have picked up. But instead of putting the Polly Pockets back into the cabinet...it's much easier to put some in the cubbie of the coffee table. Or under the rug. Under the computer stand. Or maybe Polly wants to visit with the Barbies in their container - or better yet, Polly wants to get rich with the Sponge Bob monopoly money.

After weeks (months...years...) of trying to get the kids into some better habits...I have decided to give up. No...we are not going for a free for all...but instead the other extreme...we are clearing it all out. It will be a massive project of sorting the trash from the donations from what could be sold at the consignment sale. We'll see how it goes...and how they handle going from ridiculous amounts of STUFF to a limited amount of toys.

In between all the madness...we did some school work:

MATH: Katie was thrilled to move from ratios to measuring angles. Of course it took a while for her to find a protractor. It might have been stuffed under the cushion of her chair.

HISTORY: We continued our study of the Great Depression reading Learning through History Magazine and an American Girl book on Kit's world. We were going to do a paint like Jackson Pollock day - but we had torrential rains outside - so we'll need to find a nicer day to paint. You all would be impressed - I bought paint - a turkey baster to spatter the paint - and even glitter to spread over her finished product. I suppose buying crafts is not the same as doing crafts!

PHYSICS: Katie finished up her studies of magnetism and made a nice segue into the world of sounds. Yesterday she learned about how magnets are used in recording devices.

SPELLING/GRAMMAR: In spelling, Katie learned the rules for when you double the final letter of a word - or when the "e" is dropped if a suffix is added. In Grammar, she finished the review of chapter 5.

WRITING: This week Katie was given the choice to read either "Esperanza Rising" or "Bud, not Buddy." She chose "Esperanza Rising" and finished it up this morning so that she could complete her book report. Also this week, I added the workbook: Report Writing. I really think this is going to help her with some basics. She's learned about fact vs. opinion; types of reports; parts of reports; read examples of reports; and read about the process. Yesterday, she read a section called "Report Writing can be Fun." She had to write a paragraph explaining what she would do to make report writing enjoyable - and here is her answer:

"I don't feel that report writing is unenjoyable, but the most enjoyable thing in school work To make it more enjoyable, I like to add a little sense of danger. I pretend that I'm the smartest person in the world, but that I'm in danger. I will be killed by the government if I don't do this report gladly, and that spices it up."

I have a very strange child. Maybe that is why toys and clothes are stuffed here, there, and everywhere...on a dime, the government might call her in, with no time for packing, she'll just have to grab what is closest.

LATIN: This week she learned about fourth conjugation verbs and ordinal numbers.

PIANO: She finished her sheet music and is now focusing on the second page of her difficult assignment. She is working on a piece by one of Bach's sons (isn't today Bach's birthday?). Also, she is now doing two octave scales.