How Christmas in July Got Its Start

Photo by Pixabay. You didn't think it was my desk did you? 

Today we’re going to tackle the most important rule of home organization: Finish what you start. I know something about finishing what I start—or rather I know something about not finishing what I start. Let me give you an example. Overcome by a rare burst of energy, I decide to clean my closet. Realize this is simply a dramatization. I did not have a burst of energy nor did I clean my closet.

I begin taking clothes out and laying them on the bed. I come across a dress that no longer fits and probably hasn’t since I was in fourth grade. Of course, I should wash it before I give it away. But one dress doesn’t make a full load, so I leave the contents of my closet on the bed and start sorting laundry. That’s when I remember I’m out of detergent so I decide to make a quick trip to the grocery store. I figure I may as well grab a few other things while I’m there, so I start making a list. Just thinking about groceries makes me hungry and anyway, it’s getting close to suppertime. I ransack the refrigerator and find an assortment of leftovers that are no longer eatable and quite possibly never were. I toss a few of them into the trash which is overflowing so I decide to haul it to the garage. Just then my cellphone rings. I drop the trash in the middle of the floor and run to find it buried under a stack of junk mail on my desk. In an effort to be efficient while I talk, I start sorting through the mail as I answer the phone. A friend says cheerfully, “What are you doing?” I say not as cheerfully, “I have no idea.”

Suddenly I’m overwhelmed. It’s suppertime and I have no supper. I have stacks of clean clothes all over my bed, heaps of dirty clothes all over my bedroom floor, the beginnings of a grocery list, a partially cleaned refrigerator, a pile of junk mail on the counter and a smelly trash bag sitting in the middle of the hallway. You can see how not finishing could lead to complete chaos and utter exhaustion.

Now let’s examine more closely what finishing each task means in everyday life:

It means supper isn’t over until the dishes are washed, dried and put away. By these rules, I’m often “finishing” yesterday’s supper just as I’m preparing to cook today’s. I have to; I need the dishes.

It also means the laundry isn’t done until the clothes are washed, dried, folded and put away. My laundry hasn’t been officially done since I was in elementary school and my mother did it for me.  

It means a shower isn’t over until the towel is back on the towel bar. We take really long showers at our house.

It means fix-it projects aren’t completed until the tools are put away. The vacuuming isn’t finished until the vacuum cleaner is put away. And the grocery shopping isn’t done until the groceries are put away or eaten, whichever comes first.

And finally, finishing what you start means the holidays aren’t over until the tree is down and all the decorations are put way. That’s how Christmas in July got its start.

(Dorothy Rosby is the author of three books of humorous essays including Alexa’s a Spy and Other Things to Be Ticked off About, Humorous Essays on the Hassles of Our Time. Contact drosby@rushmore.com.)