Nov. 15, 2007 - Light at the end of the tunnel of Rubbermaid
We’re almost done however, my DH went out to the storage shed and found more containers and old forgotten bags of stuff so, instead of less in my house, I have more. I was going to go out and check for myself but he beat me to it. Am I the only one with kids who say, “yes, we got it all in” but they didn’t? Or, “Yes, we have plenty of diapers” when you’re making a grocery list, but you don’t? Or, “We’re all out of ketchup” but when you bring the groceries home, there’s 3 bottles where none had been 2 hours before? Well, for having brought in everything, my DH sure found a lot more. Thankfully, most of it is going right back out. The hardest sorting job I had was for my 2 y.o. and 4 y.o. girls. They had SO MUCH and all of it cute. Some of it, my older girls had worn but, with their help, we pruned it down to just what we needed and maybe a couple extra. I love dressing up my babydolls; what can I say?
Tonight, the older girls and I sat together in the living room and worked on a grocery shopping strategy. Each girl will be responsible for a store and it’s ad. We went through our Thanksgiving shopping list and the girls made a game of whose store had the best price for each item. Whoever “won” with the best price wrote it on their list. We will finish tomorrow and I’ll type it all up on my pooter for an early morning shopping trip Saturday. We were so tired and the girls just got slaphappy. The competition for having the best prices became ridiculous and we laughed till we cried. I thought we were just working on a much-needed system for catering (and for us) but it was a hoot!
Hopefully, the mess will be gone tomorrow and we can reward ourselves this weekend. This consumed our lives this week but most of it’s my fault for having accumulated so much without sifting through and purging each season. We have 3 boxes of just snow boots we get to bless others with not to mention a boatload of coats! I didn’t know we had all this! It will be so much easier in the future – I just wished we had taken care of this a long time ago.
Learn from me! Share your stuff and save your sanity!
Comments
Nov. 16, 2007 - Untitled Comment
Posted by jrwinters
Wow, you are organized. A woman came to a garage sale we had and said, "We sure don't have a shortage of clothes in America." Well, I need to go make play dough for co-op today. Have fun shopping tomorrow.
Jeannine
Nov. 16, 2007 - Untitled Comment
Posted by CrossView
I just can't imagine!
I have enough trouble letting go of those cute little outfits and I don't have nearly that many kids. I'd probably need a whole separate house just to store the stuff I can't bear to let go of. =P
Sounds like you have a great system! And when there's much laughter, it just becomes a great memory!
Nov. 16, 2007 - Untitled Comment
Posted by msmarla
I love the idea of giving each of the girls a sales flyer and a list. What a good way to teach them about grocery shopping.
My kids are the same way about telling me they "got everything", especially when it comes to cleaning out the car. The boys are the worst, but I'm starting to thing that it's genetic and they just don't see it. Hmmm. My 12yo dd is the perfectionist in the bunch and can usually be counted on so I always ask her as a back up.
