I love the whole "vibe" of the word simplify, and I totally get that it's an attitude, but for me right now, STUFF is my main focus. It's about sorting the stuff, cleaning the stuff, organizing the stuff, finding the stuff, wearing the stuff, and maintaining the stuff. And not just my stuff- I'm the mom; stuff is my job. Stuff, Stuff Stuff! In my pitiful defense, I do come from a long line of packrats . But guess what?... the buck has got to stop here.
Case in point, I just realized a few weeks ago that I really don't nee-eeed 15 pairs of jeans or 37 tee shirts (almost all of which have a soccer ball on them). Neither do my kids. They end up wearing the same comfy favorites every other day just like I do, so why am I folding and sorting and washing all this laundry when we'd all be perfectly happy with a lot less?
Here are a few more things (I counted these up before I wrote this, by the way... so these are real numbers) that I don't need in "mindless multiples": 19 pairs of undies (TMI, I'm sure, but I never wear more than one at a time!), seven pairs of running shoes (I don't even run!), 414 kids books (granted we do homeschool, but this is excessive!), 55 Sharpies (!!?), 11 fleece sweatshirts... it's awful. So I just recently started being very harsh with myself and my "normal" reaction to clutter. Usually, I can't bear to throw anything out - if I get rid of it, I give it away, donate it, consign it, reuse it, recycle it, repurpose it, etc... Today I simply purged and tossed. I (gasp) threw away some junk that no one needs!
Wait, did someone want a couple of Kenny Rogers cassettes?
I hear ya! I am trying to do this too.....little by little! We had a garage sale the other day so that helped. The kids even sold some of their stuff! Good job! I would totally take the Kenny Rogers tapes if they were CD's :)
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