Originally published on April 25, 2015\
I sat in my living room looking around me.
This came after a week of being frustrated and, I hate to admit it, yelling at my kids.
The house just shouldn't be this dirty. We have this many hands to help, and they DO all help.
But it just isn't enough.
Oh, if I spend two hours in the morning cleaning I can get my bedroom, bath, living room all clean and comfortable.
Or I can get the girl's room clean. (gave up on the older boys years ago)
Or I can get the store room, laundry and kitchen decent.
But I just can't do them all; not and teach my kids too, much less write (and I can't NOT write. God has been very clear about that.)
Then there is the nutritious food thing. That takes time, but our health desperately needs it right now.
While looking at my living room that morning the thought occurred to me "What would I actually need to take with me to survive?
I noticed just how much stuff was in that one room that were keepsakes (things to help me remember things I will never forget anyway, like the framed wedding invitation from our marriage 29 years ago).
...how much stuff was decorations (serve no purpose but to just look at them).
...how much stuff was projects that I/someone will get to someday (but never will, of course).
If I boxed up everything from those three categories and took them to storage, do you know how long it would take me, all by myself, to clean the room with just the things we actually use?
10 minutes.
Maybe.
And truth be told, my 7 year old could do a fair job of it by herself.
So my family is shakled to the house doing housework that never gets done for
No more.
Now, I'm not all of a sudden tossing everything out the door.
First I prayed.
Then I surfed for some blogs and articles about minimalism/decluttering and subscribed.
and I am taking one shelf, cupboard, drawer, pile at a time, as the mood strikes me. Nothing systematic or organized.
Yesterday I put half a 15 gallon bag of stuff in the van to go to town (donate to the thrift store that benefits the abused women's shelter in town).
Today I have 5 bags sitting by the door to go out (OK, I cheated. I took all the misshapen pillows that have been serving as backs for the daybed/couch in the living and stuffed them into three of those bags. I only kept those that are still nice looking. There were so many they couldn't be made to look nice and were in the way most of the time anyway.)
Tomorrow I might not take anything out.
Within 2 days I could see a difference and cleaning already went faster.
Each burst of decluttering produces more benefits.
I'm getting projects done, too.
It is time to stop serving things and start serving my family. If that means things need to leave, than they need to leave.
This came after a week of being frustrated and, I hate to admit it, yelling at my kids.
The house just shouldn't be this dirty. We have this many hands to help, and they DO all help.
But it just isn't enough.
Oh, if I spend two hours in the morning cleaning I can get my bedroom, bath, living room all clean and comfortable.
Or I can get the girl's room clean. (gave up on the older boys years ago)
Or I can get the store room, laundry and kitchen decent.
But I just can't do them all; not and teach my kids too, much less write (and I can't NOT write. God has been very clear about that.)
Then there is the nutritious food thing. That takes time, but our health desperately needs it right now.
While looking at my living room that morning the thought occurred to me "What would I actually need to take with me to survive?
I noticed just how much stuff was in that one room that were keepsakes (things to help me remember things I will never forget anyway, like the framed wedding invitation from our marriage 29 years ago).
...how much stuff was decorations (serve no purpose but to just look at them).
...how much stuff was projects that I/someone will get to someday (but never will, of course).
If I boxed up everything from those three categories and took them to storage, do you know how long it would take me, all by myself, to clean the room with just the things we actually use?
10 minutes.
Maybe.
And truth be told, my 7 year old could do a fair job of it by herself.
So my family is shakled to the house doing housework that never gets done for
- keepsakes
- decorations
- and projects to make us feel guilty
No more.
Now, I'm not all of a sudden tossing everything out the door.
First I prayed.
Then I surfed for some blogs and articles about minimalism/decluttering and subscribed.
and I am taking one shelf, cupboard, drawer, pile at a time, as the mood strikes me. Nothing systematic or organized.
Yesterday I put half a 15 gallon bag of stuff in the van to go to town (donate to the thrift store that benefits the abused women's shelter in town).
Today I have 5 bags sitting by the door to go out (OK, I cheated. I took all the misshapen pillows that have been serving as backs for the daybed/couch in the living and stuffed them into three of those bags. I only kept those that are still nice looking. There were so many they couldn't be made to look nice and were in the way most of the time anyway.)
Tomorrow I might not take anything out.
Within 2 days I could see a difference and cleaning already went faster.
Each burst of decluttering produces more benefits.
I'm getting projects done, too.
It is time to stop serving things and start serving my family. If that means things need to leave, than they need to leave.
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