(Adapted for organizers from “The Night Before Christmas”
by Clement Moore)
By Barbara Jolly, Professional Organizer
‘Twas the mess of all messes, when
all through the room
Not a vacuum could navigate, not even a broom.
The clothes were all strewn on the floor
without care
In hopes that the maid would soon take them from there.
The mail stuffed in pillows all over
the bed,
With bills needing payment hid under the spread.
Old magazine clippings littered every
wood shelf,
They nagged at my soul in spite of myself.
My thoughts were all cluttered, my mind’s
in a bind
Then remember the place where the checkbook I’d find.
I tripped over shoes and fell to the
floor,
Dropped papers and linens on the way to the door.
The mountain of trash I found down the
hall
‘Twas not as bad as I thought at only four feet tall.
As I stumbled and groped down the stairway
with fear,
I felt my eye sting with the drop of a tear.
My quest now in sight, I vowed that
tomorrow
I’d clean up the mess and end this deep sorrow.
Now where is that phone book? Where
is the phone?
I’ll find me an organizer that can come to my home,
“Bring cartons and boxes and black
felt tip pen,
Bring gloves and the courage to clean out my den,
From the basement to the attic, from
the ceiling to wall,
Take the trash away, stash away, take away all.”
As the hours passed by and I waited
for morning
I sprung to my feet at the doorbell’s first warning.
My heart gave a start when I looked
out to see,
The one who would come and set my house free.
She walked through the rooms not making
a sound.
I cringed as she saw my dainties hanging around.
I could tell from the way that she wrote
in her book
That she’d leave nothing unsorted and no junk in a nook.
We picked up the catalogs, books, and
the socks,
We threw out the garbage and the biscuits like rocks.
I kept three dress sizes, the rest went
in bags,
Some were truly well worn, too skimpy even for rags.
She moved with such purpose, refinement,
and focus,
I thought it was magic, both hocus and pocus.
We sat on the floor in the midst of
the piles,
And gathered the papers and made up the files.
A wink of her eye and a twist of her
head
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.
She worked without stopping and she
was not at all bored,
Till the floors were uncovered and ordered restored.
With good cheer, she exclaimed that
the job was complete
“Your house is now tidy and once again neat.”
I paid her her due and with my eyes
all a mist,
I told her I’d keep her right here on my list.
We carried the cartons and boxes away,
Took the bags to charity and called it a day.
I heard her proclaim, as she turned
off the light,
“Finally – order to all, no more clutter in sight!”
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