Oct. 24, 2009 - Organizational Woes: Part 1
I’ve been on a painfully slow organizing frenzy for close to a month now. By that I mean that I have been seized with fervor to organize our lives better, but have been hindered and flummoxed in my ability to do so quickly and thoroughly.
I’m going to try to blog a bit about organization, including comments about my challenges and my triumphs.
But let me start with Woe #1.
We have too much STUFF.
Ok, no huge surprise there. I’m guessing most Americans have too much stuff. It is a cultural problem.
In many ways, we are very blessed because we have a big house with lots of storage. So it isn’t like piles of stuff are littering the floor. If they were, I probably would do something about them. My sweet mother wasn’t the tidiest of housekeepers growing up, but she always had a clear floor so I am used to a clear floor.
I’m not really a pack rat either, except where books are concerned. My parents moved often during my childhood and always unloaded a lot for each move, so I learned to throw things out.
So what’s the problem? I’ve been pondering that. I think the problem is that throwing things out, donating them, and organizing them, takes thought power and energy and time. And I feel short on all three
Because really, a great deal of our ‘excess stuff’ is in decent shape, and I don’t want to just throw it out. I’d like to bless someone else with it by finding a friend in need, or giving it to the Salvation Army, or something like that.
But you know how it is to open boxes and burrow through them, or go through bins of clothing – for awhile, the mess gets worse instead of better, and I have to evaluate everything. Furthermore, I am surrounded by small and active children who would like nothing better than to snatch something out of a box and take off running.
So, I’ve made progress this month, but it is slow progress. One thing I did manage to do was thin out my clothing collection for the young ones by giving items to friends who needed them. That was emotionally taxing to some degree as it was a physical sign of relinquishing hopes for another baby. But I really felt strongly that the Lord would have me bless others in this way. (And you know, if we do ever have another baby, there are thrift stores where we can buy more clothes as needed.)
So, how do you find time to get rid up stuff? When do you do it? Do you have your children help? Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Comments
Oct. 26, 2009 - Stuff
Posted by AnnieKate
Every so often I get a 'dejunking fit', and then we load up bags and boxes for the Salvation Army or for friends. Usually we have a bag in progress and that's a real help. I also have a box of books to sell, eventually.
Often the children will agree that it's time to let 'some other little kid' have a certain toy or outfit. If not, we keep it.
My scientific side thrives on recording how many bags went where, and over the past few years we have dejunked so much! But more always creeps in....
Annie Kate
Oct. 26, 2009 - decluttering
Posted by Anonymous
toys i usuay do aout once every 3 months. broken gone unless its really liked and fixable
misc. we take various things to church and leae it out in a you can take area that others also use and get rid of things that way
I use the rule that if its not been used 6-12 month and I can't think of a time that i will soon then the item is gone.
