My house is full of clutter and chaos. I wish I had come up with that, but really it was my neighbour Kelsey who said it. It perfectly sums up how I feel about my house right now.
This past weekend I spent probably about an hour total looking for things that I needed in the house. One of the things I still haven’t found. Monday morning sent me into a full fledged meltdown when I couldn’t find Linden’s snow pants to send to day care with him. (Turns out they were in the closet, but stuck between two big jackets).
The meltdown catapulted me into a purging frenzy, as I grabbed garbage bags and started shoving things in that I no longer want in my house. Clothes I turn my nose up at, clothes the kids have outgrown, toys they no longer play with, tupperware containers I no longer need. I filled 4 garbage bags full of things to be sold or donated.
I piled all of the kids books in the house into 4 large boxes with the intention to read through them one more time and only keep the ones that really have meaning to us or the kids really love. Everything else will go, and in the future we will be taking advantage of borrowing books from the library.
Here’s the thing. I don’t spend my days on maternity leave enjoying my kids and spending quality time with them. I spend my days trying to preoccupy my kids while I clean this cluttered house over and over and over again. My anxiety has been through the roof, I never have a chance to relax and I am overwhelmed all the time.
I want my children to look back and remember a happy mom, not a mom constantly stressed out or one that says “sorry, I can’t play right now because I have to clean.” They should be my first priority. The stuff should be secondary.
My plan for this week is to gather as much as I can that I want out of the house. Next week I will sort things to be donated vs things to sell and I will give myself a deadline to sell them. If the items are not sold by the deadline then they too will be donated.
This is the first post of my Clutter and Chaos series, and I hope you will enjoy following me on this journey towards a more minimalist lifestyle.