Curbing the chaos

Y'all. I'm one of those people that requires order. I seriously need it to stay healthy. Unfortunately (but also fortunately), I decided to have four kids and inadvertently created an environment where chaos rules and order absolutely cannot thrive. I have mostly learned to act like it doesn't bother me ignore the day-to-day chaos. But if I'm really honest, I'm slowly suffocating in it. I can feel the tension creeping up in my neck and shoulders, threatening to choke the life out of me. And, I can hear myself becoming snappy and impatient with the people I live with. I know what's causing it, but I'm afraid I don't have the first clue as to how to fix it. It seems the best I can do while I have small chaos-producing children in the house is to reign in the controllable parts of the chaos from time to time, even though I know it won't last. Today, I tackled the smallest room in the house (the pantry), which is all I felt I could manage. When I was done, I wanted to lock myself inside and just breathe deeply from this life-saving air hole of order. Tomorrow, the kids will no doubt go in there and pull things off the shelves and spill things on the floor and quickly shove something where it doesn't belong in an effort to not get caught stealing, but for a few brief hours, I will have had the pleasure of knowing there was order in the midst of the chaos. And, in this chaotic world where I live, that counts as a victory. (By the way, if any of you experienced moms out there have figured out the key to controlling the chaos, feel free to share your wisdom!)

Controllable Chaos

Uncontrollable Chaos