it's the LITTLE THINGS that matter most: Decluttering

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Decluttering

I recently read a book, Clutterfree with Kids, that inspired me to sort and declutter. It's a slow process, but one that definitely feels good and brings me much satisfaction. I started with two places that I stash things up high--on top of the pantry and on top of the refrigerator. The top of the refrigerator is where paint and other craft supplies go that I need to control. I found lots of things up there that I had forgotten about! There are about 10 more areas that need to be sorted, well, that's an understatement, I need to go through the whole house.

It's toys that I really want to get a handle on. Toys breed. That's the only possible explanation for how a household ends up with so many toys. I started with books. A bookshelf downstairs was overflowing with children's books. Clutterfree with Kids talks about sticking to boundaries for toys. In our case, books need to fit on the bookshelf, toys need to fit in the toy box, saved papers need to fit in the given box. That makes a good explanation for children too.

With the children I started with stuffed animals. I laid out all the stuffed animals and asked them to choose ones that could be given away. They each chose several that they could live without.

Another day Josiah sorted through his overflowing basket of cars, trucks, and tractors. Apparently getting rid of things is easy for him. He let 3/4 of his collection go. The basket is nice and neat now and he can easily find the trucks and tractors that he actually likes to play with...and I have a whole lot less to pick up!

Aliza is on the other end of the spectrum. She and I sorted through her rack of tubs in her room. She let things go, but insisted on taking a picture of many items so that she could remember them.