I hope not because these things are driving me crazy!
I’ve made small (and large) attempts to de clutter (I went through two whole totes of clothes from high school after finally convincing myself that A. James wouldn’t hate me if I didn’t save some cool outfits for her)----but I still feel that there is quite a bit to be done. Sometimes I make myself feel better by saying, “Now, now dear---it is just because the house you are in is too small. If you had a larger house this wouldn’t be a problem. You could be much more organized in a bigger house.” I refer to this as the Goldilocks syndrome. This chair is too lumpy, this chair is too hard---always an excuse, always looking for the perfect bowl of porridge. What if it doesn’t exist?
Does it make sense to save baby clothes for a child that I might never have? A child that will have to be born in the same gender and season as A. James---and be about the same size? My brain freaks out and says that I’ll be saving myself so much money by keeping them----and how terrible, regretful will you feel if you do have another child and you NEED those clothes and you’ve given them away? I could do this with everything in my closet. Those pillow cases are adorable! You can’t give them away! Someday you’ll want to read those old notes from friends. How fun will it be to see A. James wear your prom dresses? What if you decide to go back to school and you’ll need to freshen up on those old Psychology notes? One day you’ll make a beautiful quilt from all of those old scrap pieces of fabric.
This bed is too soft, this bed is too hard----always a reason.
What about you? Do you feel suffocated by your things in waiting?
total opposite. I hate clutter, and being an Army brat, am not attached to objects. They're just things to me. I have regretted getting rid of things a few times, but for the most part I am better for it. The hubs, on the other hand, is a bit of a hoarder and I have to monitor him like crazy. I have a pretty firm "bring one in, take one out" rule for clothing and he's catching on to it,thank goodness. As many clothes as hangers, as many shoes as allotted in shoe rack, papers go in file cabinet, and I hate random stacks of crap piled around the house. I don't do well in clutter;as you know I've got the ol' OCD bad enough to be medicated and still struggle! ;) Btw, bosses have a huge house and still have crap everywhere and hold on to things; you can't blame it on lack of space,missy!
ReplyDeleteI saved a lot of my son's baby clothes for this baby, the clutter kind of annoys me but at least the clothes have been semi-organized into boxes by size in storage. I figure if this baby is a girl I'll bring everything that is not gender neutral to the next Peace Love Swap and trade it for girl stuff. Having a local kid's swap has helped me keep our kid clutter to a minimum as I know I can just find stuff at the next swap for FREE. I did save his "first" outfit, the one we took him home from the hospital in, and I plan on doing that for this baby as well, but as for everything else, I'm hoping it will be passed on to folks who need it!
ReplyDeleteI started doing the "Flylady" baby steps and clutter flings from time to time and that has helped my hoarding habits immensely! (Taking a garbage bag and finding 27 things around our house to throw away, and then taking a box and finding 27 things to give away, then taking the trash bag directly out to the trash can and the thrift store box right out to the car) I admit though, getting rid of fabric or craft supplies of any kind is my nemisis because I do actually find a way to use everything. Lord help me if I ever have to give up having a sewing room to store it all in.
ReplyDeleteAnd one more confession: I bought girl bedding two years ago at Target because it was on super clearance and I figured I could give it as a gift if I never had a girl. I really liked it, it was super cheap and I knew it wasn't going to be produced again, perfectly excusable!
ReplyDeleteErin,
ReplyDeleteYou inspired me. I filled up TWO trashbags of old clothes yesterday (I too have a fabric "problem" hard to get rid of and I'm not lucky enough to have a craft room). Maybe I'll get there.
Confession: I bought a baby outfit like four years before I even had a kid and kept it in a box. I was so sure I would have a boy and I'll still hanging onto it. Haha. It had foxes on it and small hedgehogs (my weakness).