the acquisition of stuff
I spent the better part of the day doing a little decluttering around here. I don't even think we have as much stuff as most families our size; moving is a really good time to purge and we've done a lot of it over the years. Even so, one of the most challenging parts of managing this large family is keeping track of all of the stuff of six people. The clothes. The books. The toys. The sports equipment. The art supplies. There is so. much. stuff.
My boys, for example, hoard stuffed animals. They must have 100 stuffies. Every now and then I ask them to hand me five that don't get played with so we can weed things out a bit. They look at me as if I have just asked them to give up their firstborn child. I will admit that every now and then, a stuffie may just get "lost" into a Goodwill bag.
I realize this may sound a little mean, giving away my children's toys without their consent. You may wonder what kind of mom would do such a thing. I will tell you- the kind of mom who can't do clutter.
Because it is not just the 100 stuffed animals (which take up a lot of space!)... it is the dozens of dress up costumes. And the entire closet full of Imaginext toys. And the boxes and buckets and tubs of art supplies. And the baby dolls with highchair and cradle and clothes. And the kitchen set with the cash register and grocery cart and enough play food to fill our real pantry. And more Lego pieces than any one family should have- especially a family who very rarely plays Legos. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of books in this house. I am a book lover to the core, but even I will admit that we have too many books.
Again..... so. much. stuff.
And then there's the clothes. Holy moly- it could be a full time gig just keeping track of the clothes of this family. Four kids who are CONSTANTLY outgrowing their clothes + clothing for different seasons of the year... lots of clothes. There are piles in the basement: outgrown by Gracie and save. outgrown by Gracie and give away. outgrown by Luke and save, outgrown by Drew and give away, etc.
So a large part of my day was spent going through kid closets pulling out unloved items. I got the kids interested in some older toys once again. I also made a huge pile of items to donate, both to Goodwill and to my preschool. I sold a couple of things on our local Swap and Sell page on FB. Some broken things ended up in the trash.
After hours, I feel like I got a bit of a handle on the clutter around here and it feels so good. As I sit and type this, though, I think about what privilege we live in that I have to spend an entire day organizing the toys, books, and art supplies we have in our house.
My boys, for example, hoard stuffed animals. They must have 100 stuffies. Every now and then I ask them to hand me five that don't get played with so we can weed things out a bit. They look at me as if I have just asked them to give up their firstborn child. I will admit that every now and then, a stuffie may just get "lost" into a Goodwill bag.
I realize this may sound a little mean, giving away my children's toys without their consent. You may wonder what kind of mom would do such a thing. I will tell you- the kind of mom who can't do clutter.
Because it is not just the 100 stuffed animals (which take up a lot of space!)... it is the dozens of dress up costumes. And the entire closet full of Imaginext toys. And the boxes and buckets and tubs of art supplies. And the baby dolls with highchair and cradle and clothes. And the kitchen set with the cash register and grocery cart and enough play food to fill our real pantry. And more Lego pieces than any one family should have- especially a family who very rarely plays Legos. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of books in this house. I am a book lover to the core, but even I will admit that we have too many books.
Again..... so. much. stuff.
And then there's the clothes. Holy moly- it could be a full time gig just keeping track of the clothes of this family. Four kids who are CONSTANTLY outgrowing their clothes + clothing for different seasons of the year... lots of clothes. There are piles in the basement: outgrown by Gracie and save. outgrown by Gracie and give away. outgrown by Luke and save, outgrown by Drew and give away, etc.
So a large part of my day was spent going through kid closets pulling out unloved items. I got the kids interested in some older toys once again. I also made a huge pile of items to donate, both to Goodwill and to my preschool. I sold a couple of things on our local Swap and Sell page on FB. Some broken things ended up in the trash.
After hours, I feel like I got a bit of a handle on the clutter around here and it feels so good. As I sit and type this, though, I think about what privilege we live in that I have to spend an entire day organizing the toys, books, and art supplies we have in our house.
Comments
Your last line says it all.
Love Dad