It is always easier to get rid of other people's stuff because you have no attachment to it.

I would love to have dominion over other people's stuff, too. But, they will not let you do that.

I would make a lousy organizer because of that. I am afraid that I would be much too militant about it.

I have to restrain myself so very, very much when I go to my daughter's house. There are four of them in her family and each and every one of them is in hyper accumulation mode.

I just do not understand why they want to live in such chaos. There are two working parents and very little time to have a family life. There is too little time to struggle to hang clothes in a closet that is stuffed with obsolete clothing and to try and put away kitchen things in drawers that are overly stuffed with useless and redundant items. Just to hang the winter coat in the foyer closet is an act of strength. Most are old coats and serve no purpose. Or, the food storage containers that are way more numerous than is ever needed. Or, the plastic drink cups that make it hard to put away the real drinking glasses. It is all a matter of juggling and struggling and stacking. Why?

And, that stack of over flowing junk mail and paper that is stacked next to the burners of the stove just makes me afraid of a bonfire. Why get magazines that, one year later, are still unwrapped and in the pile that you put them in the day they came?

The "baby" is almost five years old and you will still find baby things and a tube of butt paste on the dresser. Don't even get me started on what is in his closet! It makes me faint!

The bathroom cabinets are stuffed with expired over the counter meds and for some dammed reason there is bug poison stored under the sink even though there is a young child and NO bugs. why?

Confession-----I do try to sneak a bag of garbage out everytime I can. But, for me it is an exercise in fortitude and self restraint every time. I also gather up all the cardboard boxes and such and recycle them. They will let an empty box sit for a very, very long time.

Daughter makes sure that the kitchen is clean and in order every evening. They are not dirty, just cluttered. She has spent much her precious time just fighting the overstuffed clutter because she really does straighten and clean. Countertop, sinks and bathrooms are always very clean. If they would only clear the clutter, it would make the operation and physical running of the household so much smoother. It is such a struggle to do anything. And, it does not have to be that way.

There is so little time to be a family. Not having to spend so much time fighting and struggling with clutter would maybe leave more time to read a story, or build legos or play a game with the kids. Take four or five chores that, with organization, would take five minutes instead of 25, and you have more time for you, your life and family. That is important when family life is compressed down into the time you arrive home from the commute and the time that you have to go to bed in order to get up early to start it all over again, and that can be valuable time. Clear the clutter and organize. It is really that simple.

Sometimes people need someone that they do not have a relationship with to tell them what needs to be told. That would be one advantage that a professional organizer has over me, the mom.

I, too , would love to be an organizer of other people's stuff. My dream is to start with my daughter's house. What she needs is a wife/homemaker instead of a "traditional" husband who leaves most up to her.

No need to complicate life with a struggle around useless clutter. There is a better way.