Like everyone else in the blogosphere, I have a bad case of the decluttering bug. Actually, I have a chronic case -- you know I don't like clutter -- but I'm trying to be ruthless about discarding things this time around.
The current drive started when I was unpacking the kitchen supplies. Over the years we have received a lot of specialized tools as gifts from kind relatives who don't really know what we need. I asked myself the tough questions: Are we ever going to use an olive drainer? Doesn't a mesh strainer work just as well and serve other purposes besides? Do we need an ice-cube tray that creates ice cubes specially shaped to insert into water bottles, or can we just squeeze in some regular cubes (which aren't really cubes, they're more like crescents, since they're made by the freezer)?
And then there were the duplicate items that I had been keeping "just in case" we needed them. I finally had to admit that if we ever need another nutcracker, we can pick one up for $1.79 at the grocery store. And we probably don't need to keep the old flatware -- if we ever lost our heads and had 50 people over for dinner, we'd most likely have a barbecue and use plastic forks anyway.
The keeping of things "just in case" is a hard habit for me to break. For most of my life, I had very limited financial resources. I still feel as though the wolf could be at the door at any time. But a few years ago I realized the foolishness of hoarding. We had to get a storage locker in which to keep our overflow items. We aren't alone; storage lockers are a booming business. They're as plentiful around here as Starbucks. I finally figured out that for what we were paying to rent the storage locker each year, we could buy replacements for the items we were storing there. Or we could take out a second mortgage and build an addition on the house for extra storage. So I canceled the storage locker and gave away the things it held. It scares me to think of the money people are paying to store items that aren't important enough to keep at hand.
So. I kept the garlic press, though I've never used it, because I'm sure if I ever needed to press garlic it would be invaluable, but most of the other stuff got boxed up and sent to Goodwill or relatives. There is now room for all the things we really need and use in the new kitchen.
I also, after conferring with my sisters, concluded that it will never be okay to wear plaid capri pants except on the golf course, and packed up a bunch of my old clothes (I don't golf). I hope big shoulder pads don't come back into style any time soon.
Most painfully of all, I went through five large garbage sacks of stuff that I had confiscated from Ella's room when it got too messy. I work with her on putting away toys she is finished playing with before starting a new project, but if I don't stay on top of things, her room becomes impossible to manage. Plus she hoards paper and Band-Aids. Every once in a while I sweep through her room and put everything that's just lying around into a bag. I went through the bags and came out with one large bag of trash, three sacks of Goodwill donations, and a small number of items to return to her. She got back anything that she has asked about or noticed was missing. The rest is gone, and she will be none the wiser. Happy Meal toys are not meant to be around forever. I am also starting to label the storage boxes and shelves in her room in hopes that this will help her get organized.
I usually take a vanload of stuff to Goodwill twice a year or more. Where does all this stuff come from? I certainly don't know. I always have grand ideas of having a garage sale or selling things on eBay, but after a while I realize it's more trouble than it's worth and I can't fight the urge to get this junk out of my house now. I'm happy to take the tax deduction instead. (Though if anyone wants to make an offer on 130 Beanie Babies, with tags, I'll take it.)
Yesterday I loaded the cargo area and the back seat of the van with bags and boxes. They filled two big bins at the shiny new Goodwill store in town. I felt much lighter after being freed of all that dead weight. Now I just need to persuade Big A to make a run to the shiny new (yes, it really is) garbage dump in town.
I'm proud of myself, but truthfully this round of items was low-hanging fruit. My downfall is keeping things for sentimental reasons. I am reluctant to throw away anything pertaining to the children, because they have so little tangible evidence of their early history. But maybe I could take pictures of the bulky items, like dioramas made for school projects. Someday. There's no hurry. I still have room.
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