The problem with that is we have too much everything and not enough places. And some of the places we do have don’t fit our everythings, if you see what I mean.
Another anecdote I think of regularly, is the one where the guy stops for directions. The person he asks looks back at him and says, “if I wanted to go there, I wouldn’t start from here.”
Hm. But here is the only place I have. I’m trying to be a bit more ruthless and actually get shot of stuff, but I find it incredibly hard. As I bag up clothes for sale or giving away I panic at the thought of maybe needing them some day in the future. It was easier when we lived up in Yorkshire and before I had the extra child, as clothes were passed to friends with children of slightly smaller stature, and you got to see them again (the clothes, on the children, not just the children in themselves) and it didn’t totally feel like they’d been given away. Now with an extra child we’ve been given bags and bags of children’s clothes and I’m drowning in the generosity.
I need to be a lot more ruthless. I need to give things away, sell stuff, put it on freegle or take it to a charity shop, or actually put the stuff I want to keep into storage in the loft. Being disorganised eats the time I need to organise though – when I’ve wasted what little time I have in between all the things that have to happen when they have to happen finding the things that are lost in the heaps, it’s hard to find the time to deal with the heaps.
I’ve tried several times to adopt a policy of not picking something up until I can deal with it and then dealing with it comprehensively – all this leads to is piles of stuff waiting to be dealt with being shuffled from place to place and then falling over.
It doesn’t help that the children follow my lead and exaggerate it. They are quite happy to put anything down anywhere and seem to expect it to stay there. The middle of the floor is a favourite, and then they aimlessly stand in the middle of the room – it was just here.
Enough. We have to get organised. Not so much tips here, as desperation and hints on how not to do it – I hope some of the other Friday Club participants have more positive posts!
Here are the other entries in this Organising Tips for the Home Carnival:
Make Do Mum posts Organising for Magpies
Maggy at Red Ted Art posts How to… make your own Scrapbook/ Artwork Calendar
Cass at The Diary of a Frugal Family posts How To Be An Organised Mum
Helen at Cheeky Wipes posts her laundry tips
Jules at I Need Curtains for the Window in my Head posts her tips for organising post
Angela at Mum’s Survival Guide posts The Organised Side of Me: Paperwork.
Ella at Notes From Home posts her laundry tips.
Vonnie says
God Jax, I could have written this. I have piles of clothes, toys and paperwork wherever I turn and I just have no time or enthusiasm to deal with it. I wish you success!
Geeky Mummy says
If you find a solution let me know. I have exactly the same problem. I would tidy, but nothing has a home because everywhere is full and messy. I actually need to tidy the whole house in one go but with a 6 year old and a nearly one year old I am lucky if I even get 10mins.
.-= Geeky Mummy´s last blog ..8 Best Must Have Mobile Phone Apps =-.
Angela says
I need to be more ruthless with throwing clothes out.
ella says
We’re putting our house on the market and I stood in the middle of our hallway the other day and nearly cried at the thought of having to deal with all the stuff we have. I would love to be minimalist because I hate clutter but as you say, you need to have places to put stuff away. Our next house had better be a palace….
Thanks for joining in the carnival x
.-= ella´s last blog ..Organising tips for the home- laundry tips =-.
Daddybean says
ella – have you thought about hiring a self storage unit. We had one for acouple of years, stuff was put in it to get it out of the way whilst we did some work on the house, and we used it to store stuff whilst selling the house. When we moved the removal men just came there and loaded up the stuff straight from the store.
Use it to put in bits of funtiure you want to keep, but really could do without for a bit. Store stuff you won’t need in the next few months, or rarely (eg. camping stuff?, power tools?) Sort out and pack some stuff away (eg. books – trhen you can put bookcase in there as well) but don’t just empty yopu cupboards into the boxes -you need to sort it out as well 🙂
Getting rid of stuff makes the house feel more spacious, it’s easier to keep tidy as there is less ‘stuff’ around, Our house was great in the few weeks up to selling it 🙂
.-= Daddybean´s last blog ..Latinetc – more reactions =-.
Cheeky Wipes Helen says
Is there maybe a ‘Nearly New’ sale comin up near you soon? The NCT run them and sometimes other community / nursery based sales – we’ve just started one in our WI?
You’d have to be ruthless and set aside a day to label and ba everythin, but at least the clothes would be worn again and you’d get somethin for them? Otherwise, I know that local womens shelters are always looking out for clothes etc?
Tbird says
I would dearly love to have an answer for you Jax! I think home ed adds massively to the issue, we have not only the normal stuff everyone has but home ed stuff on top of it AND we are home more so there is more time to get it all messy!
Make do mum says
I tend to stick stuff in the loft – out of sight out of mind! How about a car boot sale? We got rid of loads of stuff last year and it saves taking photos and listing stuff on ebay.
.-= Make do mum´s last blog ..Organising for magpies =-.
Cass@frugalfamily says
I’m with you – I need a mega de-cluttering session…. One of these days lol
.-= Cass@frugalfamily´s last blog ..Cooking with Kids – The Results and the Next Challenge… =-.