Yup! It's officially Spring here in Washington State! I hear the constant hum of law mowers outside, people are smiling, kids are hanging from monkey bars at the park. Life. Is. Good.
I love this time of year because we FINALLY get some sunshine AND it's time to do Spring Cleaning!!! I love to purge. I love getting rid of things we don't need. If something sits still too long, it will be found in the trash or Goowill pile (pretty sure if my kids sat still long enough, they would encounter the same fate). I love when everything has a place...it makes me blissfully happy. We live in a tiny house with very minimal storage and no garage. We also have a rented storage unit, but honestly bringing stuff to and from the storage unit with two wild children in tow is less fun than a root canal (I have contemplated ducttaping them to a wall, but I remember the little security cameras that are constantly on a feed to the front office, and decide against it).
Um....where was I? Oh....throwing things out. Sure, I have regretted getting rid of a few things in my time (like that hot glue gun that I never, ever, ever, ever, ever use....ya....the next week I needed one!) and I almost always have the knot in the pit of my stomach as I hand over my donation bag to the guy at Goodwill (Did I check EVERY pocket of that jacket? Maybe there is a million dollars in there?). But the awesomeness that is a clean, clutter-free, happy house outweighs any of the downfalls from purging.
Today I tackled our bedroom. I chose this room because it was in the most need of purging, but rarely seen by any visitors so it hasn't been high on my list. The REAL reason I picked our room: we lost our TV remote. I MUST find it because it is stuck on H2 (because the History Channel needs more than one channel) I cannot fall asleep to it one more night (it's been lost for over a month....seriously, how many times can H2 show programming about Big Foot???? I frequently fall asleep to experts spouting off about Sasquash sighting. This messes with my dreams BIG TIME!!!!!). So, for my sanity sake, I must clean our room.
After cleaning for quite awhile, finding the remote (YAAAAAAY!!!) and folding and hanging all the clothes that were piled on the rocking chair, I sat down on the newly found glider to take a little break and bask in my cleaning/organizing glory. I contemplated what I would do with this corner of the room now that I was getting rid of the rocking chair. I didn't really use it anymore. I was done breastfeeding (a recent occurrence) and the chair was really only used to harbor clean clothes that we were too lazy/exhausted to do anything about.
As I rocked in the chair, pondering a complete reshuffling of the room...it hit me. And it hit me hard. Tears welled up in my eyes and I just knew I couldn't get rid of this chair. This is the chair that rocked my babies to sleep. This is the chair we sat in every evening before bed. This is the chair where I sang softly and whispered to my sweet children. This is the chair I fell asleep in countless nights. This is the chair we cuddled in at 2am. This is the chair I bought on Craiglist for $10 and is not attractive, but surprisingly comfortable. This chair is family.
I have to say this is the first time that I can ever remember keeping something so large that I just plain DO NOT need, but absolutely want. I remember reading an article about decluttering once that mentioned taking pictures of things that have strong memories, then donating or getting rid of the item because you just don't need it cluttering up the house. The memory will still be there, but the useless item will no longer be in the way...but I just can't do it. So the ugly little chair stays. I'm not 100% sure where it will go....but it stays in the family.
P.S. I also cried over throwing out nursing bras. No, not because I'm that sad about no longer nursing or want to frame them or anything....but because I remember how stinkin' expensive those bolder holders were!!!! ;)
P.P.S. All the crying is not normal, evidentially I'm hormonal.
P.P.P.S. No, I'm not pregnant....don't even go there!
I love this time of year because we FINALLY get some sunshine AND it's time to do Spring Cleaning!!! I love to purge. I love getting rid of things we don't need. If something sits still too long, it will be found in the trash or Goowill pile (pretty sure if my kids sat still long enough, they would encounter the same fate). I love when everything has a place...it makes me blissfully happy. We live in a tiny house with very minimal storage and no garage. We also have a rented storage unit, but honestly bringing stuff to and from the storage unit with two wild children in tow is less fun than a root canal (I have contemplated ducttaping them to a wall, but I remember the little security cameras that are constantly on a feed to the front office, and decide against it).
Um....where was I? Oh....throwing things out. Sure, I have regretted getting rid of a few things in my time (like that hot glue gun that I never, ever, ever, ever, ever use....ya....the next week I needed one!) and I almost always have the knot in the pit of my stomach as I hand over my donation bag to the guy at Goodwill (Did I check EVERY pocket of that jacket? Maybe there is a million dollars in there?). But the awesomeness that is a clean, clutter-free, happy house outweighs any of the downfalls from purging.
Today I tackled our bedroom. I chose this room because it was in the most need of purging, but rarely seen by any visitors so it hasn't been high on my list. The REAL reason I picked our room: we lost our TV remote. I MUST find it because it is stuck on H2 (because the History Channel needs more than one channel) I cannot fall asleep to it one more night (it's been lost for over a month....seriously, how many times can H2 show programming about Big Foot???? I frequently fall asleep to experts spouting off about Sasquash sighting. This messes with my dreams BIG TIME!!!!!). So, for my sanity sake, I must clean our room.
After cleaning for quite awhile, finding the remote (YAAAAAAY!!!) and folding and hanging all the clothes that were piled on the rocking chair, I sat down on the newly found glider to take a little break and bask in my cleaning/organizing glory. I contemplated what I would do with this corner of the room now that I was getting rid of the rocking chair. I didn't really use it anymore. I was done breastfeeding (a recent occurrence) and the chair was really only used to harbor clean clothes that we were too lazy/exhausted to do anything about.
As I rocked in the chair, pondering a complete reshuffling of the room...it hit me. And it hit me hard. Tears welled up in my eyes and I just knew I couldn't get rid of this chair. This is the chair that rocked my babies to sleep. This is the chair we sat in every evening before bed. This is the chair where I sang softly and whispered to my sweet children. This is the chair I fell asleep in countless nights. This is the chair we cuddled in at 2am. This is the chair I bought on Craiglist for $10 and is not attractive, but surprisingly comfortable. This chair is family.
I have to say this is the first time that I can ever remember keeping something so large that I just plain DO NOT need, but absolutely want. I remember reading an article about decluttering once that mentioned taking pictures of things that have strong memories, then donating or getting rid of the item because you just don't need it cluttering up the house. The memory will still be there, but the useless item will no longer be in the way...but I just can't do it. So the ugly little chair stays. I'm not 100% sure where it will go....but it stays in the family.
P.S. I also cried over throwing out nursing bras. No, not because I'm that sad about no longer nursing or want to frame them or anything....but because I remember how stinkin' expensive those bolder holders were!!!! ;)
P.P.S. All the crying is not normal, evidentially I'm hormonal.
P.P.P.S. No, I'm not pregnant....don't even go there!
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