Toys, Paper, and Stuff

We are in the thick of organizing and cleaning. Our move to our farmhouse was pretty harried and we did it right after starting our business and shortly before my Dad died. It was a very busy time for us. We didn't get to do a lot of the normal "cleaning out" you do when you move. And we are still doing that and unpacking.

Some rooms got moved into nicely--the kitchen, for example. And the living room. But other rooms . . . not so much.

People think I'm neat and organized. And in many ways, I am. And when I'm organized, I am organized. But in many ways, I'm not. I've relaxed over the years (quite frankly, I think Mark's glad). :P

I'm the kind of person who, when a room is clean and neat and tidy, is NUTS about keeping it that way. But when it gets out of control, I sort of shrug, shut the door, and toss more stuff in there now and then because "it's already a mess."

Basically, I'm Monica and we have what we call our "Monica Closet." As illustrated here:



(Stop at 1:28--the rest has nothing to do with this post and will likely get you fired if you view it at work. And don't let that bait you into watching either. You've been warned).

So, now we're organizing. And sorting. And cleaning. And it makes me wonder how people handle things like this.

I mean, I think we have WAY too many toys. I always swore we wouldn't have more than could fit in a toybox. But we're way overloaded. When we look at most of the toys, we take some comfort in the fact that we haven't bought most of them. And we're really grateful for them. But we're a bit overloaded and I'm not sure what to do.

Why do I save this stuff? Well, I can think of a few reasons:

1. The cost. I know people who just toss stuff. They clean out and throw out and Goodwill and give away like they're on a mission. But then, many of them buy the same toys again later. I'm fundamentally opposed to that because of the expense. If you're going to use it again later (having more kids, giving to your grown children/grandchildren, etc.), then save it!

2. Plus I get attached to stuff sometimes. I don't like that I do, but I do. I get attached to the thought of who gifted it to us, etc. (I totally know that's one of the no-nos from those people who go on Oprah and tell people how to declutter, but what can I say . . . therapists can have issues, too).

3. Also, most of my childhood toys got tossed by my parents (sorry, Mom, but it's true), because my Mom is an impulsive thrower-outer. She can quickly deem something as "garbage" and toss it out before you have time to blink or say, "That's my Sesame Street Clubhouse!" (Yeah, still a little bitter about that one--even replaced that one through eBay for the nostalgia factor).

So on the one hand I'm trying to be the opposite and not throw stuff out because I miss some of my toys. But on the other hand, I sort of envy my mother's ability to so easily part with stuff as it makes for less clutter. And less clutter is good because there's less stress, better chi, and, you know, you're not a slave to things (to clean, to organize, to find, to fix, to put away, etc.).

(For the record, I'm not like those people you read about in magazines who pay hundreds of dollars for storage space for loads of stuff they store. It's not nearly that bad. We don't pay for storage and I'm talking fairly typical household stuff here).

So I'm a dichotomy: I don't like clutter and I don't like to throw stuff out. Hmmmm. Conundrum.

I think in general, my time management and organizational skills have gone downhill. 99% of the time, I'm fine with it as this is a result of my learning to relax and go easy on myself in order to help myself heal from depression and anxiety. And I really am happier and healthier. But 1% of the time, I feel frustrated.

Some rooms are not cluttered--our kitchen, for example. And our bedrooms. But our playroom and den get overloaded sometimes.

So I read up on how to organize and declutter and many of the tips work. And we do them!

But sometimes in the midst of these paper piles and toy piles, I think, "Do other people deal with this? How do they handle it? What tips could they give me that would take into consideration my slight attachment (attachment isn't good, I know) to stuff, my financial conerns (don't want to buy twice), and my guilt factors (I don't want to throw out the kids' toys so that we can give them to them when they get married and have kids)."

I don't want to make the kids feel badly by throwing out their stuff and yet I want to teach non-attachment and how nice it is to have less stuff and more order.

I did see a cute idea for saving kids' drawings--save several from every year, make a nice cover with name and year, and bind them in a book at Staples.

And for stuffed animals, check out The Zoo. (Stuffed animals we have aplenty, but no word of a lie--they are played with almost CONSTANTLY).

So, how do you handle this? What do you do with their toys? Their drawings? Stuff in general? Are you organized? When do you organize? (If you're one of those people who has always been organized and just keeps it that way, you can just keep your comments to yourself. :P) What are your organizational challenges? What helps? What works? What doesn't work?