Sunday, February 18, 2007

Operation Get This Crap Out Of My House: Day 1

Inspired by Kamrin's quest to simplify her life towards the end of last year, I decided to do the same. That whole ordeal started today. When you're a pack rat, that is not an easy task. Oy!

After dh and I folded and put away a few loads of laundry last week, we were left with the realization that we have more clothes for the kids than we have room. Mind you, the girls have a closet and an armoire, the latter of which they now have to share with their brother because his clothes no longer fit in his dresser.

That's it! Not only am I going to stop buying all this crap, I'm also going to sort through the clothes and get rid of a bunch. Those that we borrowed from friends will go back to their rightful home. Anything anyone else gave us will be given away (I'm not comfortable selling things that other folks have given us). Some items will be passed to my sister. Everything else will be sold either at an upcoming consignment sale or at one of the local kids' consignment stores.

I sorted clothes today. Oh my word! My kids have more clothes than any 5 or 6 kids could need. And mind you, that's only what we had out. There are boxes and boxes in the attic. I'll sort through them when I'm feeling a bit more ambitious. Right now, I'm far too tired.

We're not just forcing the kids to simplify. Dh and I sorted through old magazines today. A huge stack went to the recycling dumpster type thing at a local church (not sure what the official title is). That left us with two empty plastic storage boxes. Woo hoo. After sorting through the kids' clothes, I got another one emptied. Yay to getting rid of crap and freeing up some space.

Next step, consolidate the two giant plastic boxes of diapers into just one. Then donate all the extra liners/covers. Sure, I cloth diapered twins, but thanks to generous friends, I actually have enough liners/covers to diaper 4 babies. That's AFTER I gave some away to a foster mom two years ago. So some of this has got to go.

I'm exhausted and a bit overwhelmed (to be honest, WAY more than just a bit), but it's also so freeing. I'm just beginning to realize how much having all this stuff around weighs me down. It leaves the place cluttered. It means we're constantly cleaning or moving things around. I'm really looking forward to pairing down to only what we need and use.

On the agenda: stop obsessively checking the super cheap jewelry website & definitely stop buying more pretty shiny useless crap from there.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's my gal! I am glad to be contagious!

Suzie said...

Okay - in addition to cleaning the carpets & laundry (which I already had planned for today), I read your blog and went thru my closet as well. Got rid of a couple outfits that I will donate to Goodwill...and I'll pencil in a spring-date to go thru my closet again.