Going Into the Closet

The other day I got inspired in light of our upcoming move and decided to clean a little in our schoolroom/playroom.  I needed to clear some things out, clean up in general, and try to get some order for packing and moving purposes.  I pretty much trashed the place.  I like to bank on the truth of the axiom,"It always gets worse before it gets better."  And I figure the worse it gets the better it will get.  Right? 

One area I dug into was the closet in that room.  It stored coats, boxes of pictures, frames, the kids clothes, unused rugs, wrapping paper, more kids clothes, a dishpan, a lamp, a tripod, and if you can think of some other weird stuff that might be in a closet and add it to this list, then it probably was in there.  Mike cleaned some of it out while the rest of us were still in Florida, and I got busy on what was left.  By the time I was done, there was a lot of empty space in the bottom of the closet, the hanging clothes were more organized, and I even wiped the floor up with a cleaning cloth.

Not too long after that, though, something happened.  It doesn't take much time around here for an empty space to get filled up with something.  Our mail, some clean clothes, papers from school, groceries, dishes, shoes...this list could go on.  And on.  And on. 

But this time the kids turned that closet into a fort!  And in the time it took for me to get Eliana to sleep they had transformed this little spot into a fun, animal-friendly, artsy, cozy party area. 

Everything was there, from a box of tissues to a basket full of stuffed animals.  There is an extra bag and a balloon.  Scissors, yarn, markers, a horse and a giraffe.  There is even a blanket. 

Their imaginations continue to amaze me...such a tiny nook but a limitless horizon.