I suppose if I had to choose a resolution, it would be the one I choose every year and fail spectacularly at – ridding my house of clutter once and for all. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the reasons behind my need to hang onto old magazines, books I haven’t read, instructional manuals I will never make anything from, clothing which will fit K or E before it would ever fit me again, Christmas decorations which worked for the apartment but not this house, bubble wrap, old receipts, etc. I think part of the problem is that I feel there is still life in things, and I need to let other people take advantage of that life before the elastic goes, or the colors fade, or whatnot. Another part of the problem is that I grew up believing that the most important factor in any purchase was getting a “really good deal”. I can’t begin to tell you how many “really good deals” were purchased that didn’t fit quite right, weren’t quite my style, didn’t quite suit the purpose I needed something for, or were completely extraneous, but were priced really cheaply and therefore impressed my mom when I told her how little I paid for them. What is the value that can be placed on open, clear space? What is the value that can be placed on the ability to clean for company by using a swiffer instead of a bunch of boxes with clutter shoved into them stacked onto the bed in the guest bedroom? What is the value that can be placed on giving your friends the “fifty cent tour” of your house? (to date, not a single one of my friends has seen my basement. My parents were down there once, and my in-laws were down there when we first bought the house. One of my friends has a playground set up in her basement that her kids enjoy daily, and that mine love when we go over. What I wouldn’t give to have the wherewithal to do that with my basement! What would the value of THAT be, as compared with the “deal” I got on the stuff down there?) To be fair, some things were inherited from my grandparents, and gifts from others, but for the most part it is things I (or Scott) picked out and brought into the house. It wasn’t too bad until the kids’ stuff started to take over, and it has become apparent that *something* has to give. Another good friend is having a rummage this spring, I think this is my big chance.
For the record, the clutter here is like “Clean Sweep” and not “How Clean Is Your House?” – We have clutter, but not filth.
Stay tuned here for my big attempt to clear out here once and for all. The kids deserve to grow up in a place that more closely resembles IKEA than a flea market. Encouragement encouraged, to those who don’t tend to hold onto things, this probably sounds silly, but to those who hang onto old newspapers and such, you probably understand…
Squid Widget and the Crawling Chaos of Childhood 