Bottom Photo: Designer Peter Walsh shows off a fresh filing system to Michelle "MILF" Hemminger part of her "Multi-tasking Mom" makeover in Tinley Park, IllinoisMichelle Hemminger lives in Tinley Park, but she could be any overwhelmingly busy Southland mom.
Two toddlers to track. A full-time job. Play dates. Chores. Dinner to make.
And no time to get better organized.
But Hemminger is proof there’s hope. Her help came via an organizational makeover from her favorite celebrity designer, Peter Walsh. The TV personality, best-selling author, radio host and self-proclaimed “decluttering and organization guy” dropped by Hemminger’s home after she won a national “Multitasking Mom Makeover” contest sponsored by U.S. Cellular.
Nearly two weeks later, Hemminger is basking in the results.
“He thought of everything,” Hemminger said. “He had solutions for all my problems.”
For the 39-year-old mother of two — son Gavin, 3, and daughter Marni, 2 — her organizational problems started in her cramped home office.
“I work from home most days,” said Hemminger, a 401(k) benefits administrator in Lincolnshire. “I travel up to my office once a week, which is up north, so my (home) office is sort of a thing for my work and home stuff. It’s the catch-all for everything.”
Seeking a solution, Hemminger figured she had nothing to lose after learning about the contest through Walsh’s Facebook page. She grabbed a camcorder, corralled her kids and pleaded her case as a busy mom in need of some organizing.
“It was Fourth of July weekend, and I pulled out the video camera and moved my kids around a little bit, and that was it. The rest was history. So we submitted it and we heard that we won,” Hemminger said.
Her husband, Doug Hemminger, said the makeover was well-deserved. Michelle was one of just five winners nationwide.
“As a mom, I think she’s wonderful. She’s constantly struggling to find time with the kids and spends less time in the office doing stuff,” he said.
A typical busy day
About two-thirds of mothers nationwide are in the work force, according to recent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics findings. But numbers aren’t needed to explain the time crunch that creates.
“Usually my husband is up and out the door before any of us are up, so I get the kids up most days and get them fed and out the door to preschool a few days a week,” Michelle Hemminger said. “And if I have a break at lunch, run over and pick them up, bring them to my parents, (then) meetings over the phone and conference calls, and at the end of the work day, going to pick them up, bringing them home, dinner, you know, and the whole trying to get some family time in. It varies a little on a day-to-day basis.”
Whew.
“Then throw in some appointments and play groups,” Hemminger said. “I feel that it’s very typical. ... Everyone kind of struggles, you’ve got mail and kids’ school papers and just stuff, so you know, you try to stay organized.”
Doug Hemminger said his wife keeps track of all of the household chores like laundry, “but we kind of split it up and she does a lot of the bills.”
Walsh said the Hemmingers aren’t unlike most busy families, but Michelle’s situation was somewhat unique.
“She’s a high achiever,” he said. “She wants everything done so well, and I think this has been really great to work with her to kind of get things synched up upstairs.
“She works from home four days a week, juggles baby-sitting schedules, takes care of the house. She’s got a very high-pressure job, and I think things were just kind of off the rail. The office upstairs was kind of overwhelmed with everything from the scrapbooking stuff to the family photos that haven’t been filed.”
Finding solutions
For the makeover, Walsh sat down with the couple to discuss their needs, then Michelle was sent off for a beauty makeover and a new mobile device from U.S. Cellular. While she was gone, Walsh and his team went to work for about eight hours, defining space needs in the home office for work, scrapbooking, kids’ stuff and Doug’s desk.
Walsh removed some furniture, shifted other pieces and helped the Hemmingers see the light.
“She spends about 10 hours a day working up there and it was kind of a dark room,” Walsh said. “We really removed a lot of the furniture to open it up. ... She was in a corner facing a neighbor’s window, so we swung her to the back of the house so now she looks out on the green space at the back of the house.”
With a $5,000 budget, Walsh was able to give Hemminger her dream space.
She said the new look is great.
“It’s a big change — much more peaceful to be in there,” Hemminger said. “I’m looking at green trees instead of a wall.”
Hemminger said her advice to other busy moms is to find “me time.”
“There’s not that much spontaneous self-time, but I try to make time,” she said. “My husband is really great at making sure I have time to do stuff, so that’s good for everybody when ‘Mom’ has time to decompress once in a while.”
