**Warning.. There will be no WWII references in this post**
Our family is fighting this battle on a daily basis and
in many ways. In the obvious... We are no small people! Both my husband and I could use to lose a
whole person each, my oldest looks like Godzilla next to other children of his
age (even though he is quite slender), and my youngest is doing a fabulous
impression of a red headed King Kong!
This "bulge" however prevalent in our family and in society as
a whole is not the same over abundance I want to share about today....
In
my family we are rookie hoarders. When my husband and I took two very full
lives and joined them to be one, all of our stuff came with us. Shortly after
we got married, we were forced into downsizing from a lovely condo to one room
in my in-laws house, following with my parents moving out of my childhood home,
and inheriting almost the entire contents of the houses of two sets of
grandparents.... WE HAVE A LOT OF STUFF!!!!
Our
current living space is a one bedroom second floor walk up. The adults occupy
the bedroom and the boys live in a space outside our room that serves as a
landing at the top of the stairs. It has a lovely bay window that for the last
year and a half has been the most wonderful changing table. We have crammed to
cribs, stacking storage and the children into this space. We also have a very
small living room kitchen combo that also is used as: my office, the boys’
playroom, the formal dining room and craft headquarters. Phew... I think I feel
the walls closing in as I think of all that we cram in here! We have also been blessed with having access
to storage with a couple different family members. They are holding furniture
and wedding gifts etc at no cost (unless you count the cost of familial guilt!)
For
the last year or so Dear Husband and I have been questing to rid ourselves of
the baggage and the. Irene of all of this stuff!! It is not as easy as it seems, and for each
of us different reasons. For him, the first time he moved out of the room in
which he grew up was to live with me. He never had a need to purge or make the
tough choices. For me, I have carried a lot of these items with me for 20plus
moves over the last 15 years. If I didn't part with it during all of that time,
why should I get rid of it now!!!
I have learned some important things about the clutter
and piles.
It makes you more stressed - a messy
room with piles everywhere doesn't foster a calming environment to help you
unwind at the end of the day. When finally come into the bedroom to end my day,
I immediately get stressed. There are piles of clean laundry and clothes the
kids have grown out of. Already I have a huge stack of Christmas presents.
There are boxes of items that have already been sorted to be donated and just
still haven't left. If you are stepping over piles all the time how can you
possibly go to the sleep peacefully?
You waste your time - I am amazed at how
often I can't find my keys or my wallet when it is time to walk out the
door! I know that it is because I don’t
have a solid system. When I come home the keys and wallet should always go in
the same exact place....
You spend more money – When you can’t
find something, you are more likely to buy it again! This has not been a major issue with our
family. Luckily we both have good
memories for know what we have on hand, it is just hard to find it J
You get stuck in the past – By keeping
yourself surrounded by all of the items from your past, you have no room to
discover your future.
We are fighting the good fight... some days we win, and some days we dont! We do not have a dirty home, but it isnt one that I often welcome people in to visit. I am looking forward to the added space that fighting the battle of the bulge and winning will provide!!
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