February disappointment, thanks St Valentine!

Clutter is a great antidote to romance!

Picture this; Valentine's Day 2015, it's 5:30pm. The short inhabitants of the home are tired and hungry. You're thinking of something to cook for dinner that instead of being complained about or thrown at their sibling, they might actually enjoy AND benefit from its' nutritional content. You know the babysitter should be here by 6:30pm and your fairly sure the dinner booking is at 7:30pm. This should give you just enough time to find a clean pair of undies (but probably not its matching upper counterpart) try on 7 or 8 outfits, chuck some deodorant on and look half decent for a romantic night out. 

The screaming starts because someone can't find their favourite tutu and you KNOW it absolutely is somewhere in the house. You leap from room to room to appease the mouth on legs, tripping over half finished piles of washing.

The babysitter is late, the other half is even later and horror of horrors he did NOT book the restaurant because that's your job. He's very busy you know. Somehow he manages to sweet talk the local Chinese restaurant, the one that had that trouble with the health inspectors last year but he's fairly sure they've cleaned up their act.

Miraculously, the whole evening is not lost. You manage to make it to dinner, even taking a moment to really look at this face opposite and think 'apart from wanting to slap it from time to time, I quite like this face'.

All is quiet as you trip through the front door, say goodbye to the babysitter and kick the heels off. You wander into your 'sanctuary' and are face with all of the stuff you 'need' but don't know what to do with, clothes all over the floor and paperwork shoved under your bed. 

It's hardly a romantic end to the day being confronted with all the things that haven't been attended to but have been shoved into the only room in the house that no-one else but the short inhabitants are allowed to enter. Even worse, it's a terrible way to wake up!

It's hard to feel intimate surrounded by clutter so it's time to get organised and take some pressure off. Tips for a relaxed & romantic Valentines Day/Night are:

• Book your restaurant well in advance
• Declutter your bedroom the weekend before
  • get everything off the floor
  • remove anything from under the bed
  • dust your bedside tables & chests
• Decide what you're going to wear the day before
• Hire the babysitter to come an hour so they can
  • help out at dinner time
  • do the washing up afterwards
  • find the missing tutu
• Take your time to get ready as soon as the babysitter arrives

If you want more tips from us you can go here, if not take a deep breath & declutter!