Do you by chance have too many clothes and toys and nonsense stuff in your house? I know I do. And it's ruining my mood. I look at it daily and want to bag it all up. Or burn it.
I remember reading a story in Reader's Digest from a family who lost everything they owned to a home fire. What has stayed with me years later is remembering their attitude. The husband and wife both mentioned how it was 'rather like a blessing.' Their old house had been full of stuff accumulated over the years, many of which was just plain junk. Post fire, the husband now owned 7 work shirts and that's all he planned on owning. Similar thing with the wife. Story moral in a nutshell: "There's more to life than having material possessions."
I'll be candidly honest when I say that this is something I struggle with. Thou shalt not covet. I know that, but....aaaaagh, there's the bigger house that's for sale, and the jeans that are so cute, and the shoes that I could get at 1/2 price and....
I sort through my clothes about 3x every year. I bag up the unwanted clothes and donate them to our local Salvation Army. I do the same with my kids' clothes. But the end result is that I'm really just cleaning out to make room for some new ones. Kind of counter productive.
This time I'm about at the breaking point. I am picturing what my house could look like without 1/3 of the stuff. That's motivation to get me going, but how to get started? I would love to know if other moms feel that it's best to simply donate it or to consign or what. Our homeowners' assoc. doesn't allow yard sales. I'm kind of relieved actually. I hear that it's a lot of work and the whole concept of bartering on prices is just a nightmare.
If I can wrangle my family into this project, I am going to do it. There will be light at the end of the tunnel.
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