I’ve been hiding something. I’ve been hiding it for a very long time. Months, at least.
See this picture? I took it when I realized what I was doing. I was covering up something very embarrassing with that purple sponge.
I was covering it up because other than this icky and awful spot, this area of my kitchen counter was making me happy. I’d finally put away the dishes that had been air-drying for months longer than they needed to.
Putting those eyesores away made this space look finished. Two little ol’ things on it? They don’t bother me one tiny bit. I automatically know why they’re there.
Anyway, as I placed that sponge over the grody-to-the-max spot, a vague mental picture passed through my mind.
This handy dandy drying mat, which I do so love, came in a two pack.
I know I debated whether I needed to keep both, but I think I may have kept it, at least for a time, in that cabinet over there. At least, if I did, that’s where I’d look for it first.
Sure enough, I did.
And in five whole seconds, I had replaced the gross one with the pretty one.
I even took the gross one straight to the washing machine since the washing machine was available, not being Laundry Day.
We find that happening a lot. It’s a downfall of the decluttering mindset. We assume we pitched it, so we don’t even look.
I say “we” because on the same weekend, Hubby bemoaned the fact that he didn’t have ANY gross tennis shoes anymore. Nothing bad enough to wear in the lake guilt-free.
Then, he found one pair. He’d just assumed I’d purged them all.
When he assumed, I was indignant. I mean, I’m just trying to keep our house free of junk! He should have looked before accusing (or not really accusing, but it felt that way) his wife!
And then this happened. Proof I make the same assumptions.
Oops.
Totally relevant affiliate link: I love my dish drying mat. Here’s one on Amazon.
Oooh, and since you have a laundry day every week, you can rotate between the two. Which will be another nudge to keep it empty, at least once a week. Genius! I like systems that make me do what I’m supposed to without any extra work/remembering.
Isn’t it surprising how we can procrastinate simple tasks that make a huge difference? I totally do this too.
I use a dish drying rack, but the base that belonged with it had gotten quite gross, so after seeing my mom and sis-in-law use these mats, I decided to get one. My sister-in-law might have been the one who suggested it or maybe I thought of it, I don’t remember, but I did get two so that I could switch them out. I still admit that I don’t do so quite often enough, but it really is helpful to have that back-up one ready to go right away! 🙂