Ode to a Closet

Jake was laying in bed last night when I turned to him and, with a face all too revealing of my glee, exclaimed "I organized my pajamas today!" We both burst out laughing. Jake is prone to deep scrubbing the tub and vacuuming regularly. I am prone to ignoring those things entirely, while getting anxious over the state of a disordered drawer.

I mentioned last week that I've been buzzing with nesting energy, ready to get the house in a state of preparedness for the little one tumbling around in my womb. Alice's bedroom closet was weighing on me. I found myself losing sleep over the jumble of bags and boxes that her storage had devolved into over the past year and a half. When Alice was born, her closet was still being used for lots of non-baby things: office supplies, my grad school materials, household files and seasonal clothing storage. So, initially, I would bag up Alice's outgrown clothes and stored them in the loft of the barn. About 9 months into her little life I realized I should probably flip that paradigm- store my stuff in the barn or get rid of it entirely and dedicate her closet to her (and the hopes of more future babies). In came the bags from the barn, out went the rest. The closet was somewhat reclaimed, but the storage was incredibly unsightly. Brace yourself:

If you're Jake, this just looks like a closet. If you're me, this looks like a literal nightmare. I started some sorting before we found out this baby's gender- to figure out how much of Alice's wardrobe has been gender neutral- but quickly realized it would be best to clean and sort the whole dang thing. There was no half-heart-ing this. I took measurements. I ordered bins and baskets. There were several days of laundering and sorting and labeling. And now, I enjoy peering into Alice's closet whenever I get a chance.


And now Molly- my American Girl doll from childhood- even has her own little bedroom on the closet floor. Alice likes tucking her in, putting her index finger to her lips and telling me "shhhhh" before closing the door.