Good afternoon! The two youngers are napping, E and e are at a ski lesson and I’m feeling a bit under the weather, so I’ve confined myself to the couch until my headache goes away at least. It’s 45 degrees and beautifully sunny out, and the birds are singing like it’s spring–so it’s not all bad!
Last weekend we stopped by Goodwill with a few items that we no longer needed. A shower caddy that kept falling off of the shower head, an easel my kids didn’t use, an old side table. The bags contained an assortment of Eric and my clothing that didn’t fit properly and some hand-me-downs for the boys we’d been given that didn’t suit them. We also had a bag with some old kitchen tools, books, an old nonstick pan, and some vacuum bags.
There’s always that moment of panic as you unload things into the donation bin and think: but what if I did actually need that?
And then the moment of relief as you drive away feeling much, much lighter. We have our front hallway back now, where all that stuff had been collecting–and I’m infinitely more motivated to give it a good mop (there are salty paw prints from all the melting snow everywhere), replace the ratty rug and hang a mirror by the front door.
Miraculously, now that all of those items are gone, I can see more stuff that needs to go too. Just today I was sifting through our bin of 2/3T clothing to find some t-shirts for A, and I discovered some ill-fitting/impractical clothes that will never be worn by my kids. And I didn’t even think to go through the bathroom drawers or the pantry during my initial declutter. There’s plenty of personal care products and groceries to bin or donate as well.
I admire ladies like Marie Kondo (pre-kids), Minimalist Mom (who has older kids), and other ladies with no or older children who can immaculately curate their homes and focus their decluttering efforts on a drawer or a dresser at a time.
With little kids, the sheer volume of stuff going in and out of the house on a regular basis–hand-me-downs, gifts, preschool art projects, sports gear, etc–necessitates a less perfect and more aggressive approach. If we’re making the 20-minute drive out to Goodwill (those lines get long) I’m peeking in every room, quickly, to see if there’s stuff to bag up. No time to ponder or perfectionize!
Last thing, Eric and I are celebrating 10 years together today 🙂 Here’s us in 2014.
Here’s to another ten years of adventures!
xx Claire