Pegasus Posted June 11, 2019 Share Posted June 11, 2019 We are having new flooring installed so it is a good opportunity to sort through stuff as it all has to be moved and then put back anyway. I had decided that there was no reason to hold onto all the yarn and knitting/crocheting accessories since it had been about 15 years since anyone in the household had tried this hobby. I had not yet mentioned this to the family and I had not pulled it out to discard it. A few days ago, both DDs started knitting/crocheting projects out of the blue! Argh. I'm doomed to live with clutter. 9 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAgain Posted June 11, 2019 Share Posted June 11, 2019 I hear ya! I took two boxes of books to a curriculum swap. One didn't make it out of my car. Ds was sitting in the back seat, sadly looking through them. "You're giving this away? And this? But I loved this one!" *sigh* I'll try again next year. 6 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherry in OH Posted June 11, 2019 Share Posted June 11, 2019 We are having flooring installed also. Sons' bedrooms are packed up. Youngest ds hadn't played with any toys but Lego and Nerf for over a year. I planned to take some of the outgrown toys to Goodwill this week. Last week he pulled the toys from the top of his closet and started playing with them. He wants them all to stay. So far all I have been able to cull is one toy, a small stack of picture books, and some outgrown clothing. More has to go. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmseB Posted June 11, 2019 Share Posted June 11, 2019 If anyone takes stuff from my declutter piles, they have to find a place to put it away neatly in their own space, NOT where I just decluttered it from. And if it gets left out again it's gone! And sometimes I am known to say, "Sorry, you haven't touched this in a year and you won't use it regularly now." 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted June 11, 2019 Share Posted June 11, 2019 Hoarding books is the Achilles heel of this family (with me as worst offender). Some years back, I tried to get to tough and told everyone to go through all the bookshelves and put any unwanted books in a box I set up in the hallway. Three days later, there were only 2 books in the box -- mostly because *I* couldn't bear to part with any of the old kids books (and all the wonderful read aloud and homeschool memories attached to them). 😫 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted June 11, 2019 Share Posted June 11, 2019 31 minutes ago, Lori D. said: mostly because *I* couldn't bear to part with any of the old kids books (and all the wonderful read aloud and homeschool memories attached to them). 😫 I know, sigh. I'm getting ready to tell myself to get religion about this. I'm 43, the kid-bearing days are over, it's time. I got one room done in the basement that didn't have books, but now I'm working on a room that has them. I'm dreading it, because I have to get serious and DO it. It may be painful. I'm telling myself really nice things like "Make happy memories for the next family" and stuff like that... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted June 11, 2019 Share Posted June 11, 2019 I think you have to go in with the mindset that you'll probably have to rebuy something small. It's still worth the price of a little yarn to live in a clutter-free space. The free square footage is MUCH more valuable. I purged last summer and gained an entire new ROOM. I may have to buy something again one day, but the big picture is that it's worth the risk. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted June 11, 2019 Share Posted June 11, 2019 I’m going through this now. I’m cleaning out my basement and everything tugs at my heart. I cleared out about 7 years of homeschool papers that I’d been holding on to...not sure why. All the math worksheets, all the little essays they wrote, all the SOTW coloring sheets. I put everything in tote bags to take to the recycle place and gave the boys strict instructions NOT TO LOOK AT THE PAPERS. It already had broken my heart to bag everything up, and I knew that one little wistful, “Oh, I loved coloring in that picture while you read to us, sweet Mommy of mine,” and I’d be unpacking it all and putting it back in the bins. It was bad enough dealing with my own sentiment, and I knew I couldn’t also deal with theirs. My state requires a portfolio each year with about 3 samples from each subject in it. I kept the portfolios, but the rest is gone. And now I have 4 full sized bins that I can use for the things I do need to keep. 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 11, 2019 Share Posted June 11, 2019 10 minutes ago, Garga said: I’m going through this now. I’m cleaning out my basement and everything tugs at my heart. I cleared out about 7 years of homeschool papers that I’d been holding on to...not sure why. All the math worksheets, all the little essays they wrote, all the SOTW coloring sheets. I put everything in tote bags to take to the recycle place and gave the boys strict instructions NOT TO LOOK AT THE PAPERS. It already had broken my heart to bag everything up, and I knew that one little wistful, “Oh, I loved coloring in that picture while you read to us, sweet Mommy of mine,” and I’d be unpacking it all and putting it back in the bins. It was bad enough dealing with my own sentiment, and I knew I couldn’t also deal with theirs. My state requires a portfolio each year with about 3 samples from each subject in it. I kept the portfolios, but the rest is gone. And now I have 4 full sized bins that I can use for the things I do need to keep. This was literally me yesterday. My cabinets in the studio - the ones I said not to worry about when you came to clean with me - had binder upon binder of M’s work, going back to Grade 4. I was asking myself, WHY? Why do I still have these?! I think it’s because he’s my last homeschooler. And now that my homeschool life has ended, I am trying to divest myself of all the clutter, curriculum, books, and all those portfolio binders I kept for years yo no purpose whatsoever. (True confessions: I saved a sampling of work from each grade, stapled neatly together.) My dd is the one foiling my efforts at the moment. I took a picture of her dorm area rug, vacuumed it, and was proepared to list it for sale, but she said, “Well...it’s in pretty good condition and I might want to use it in an apartment or something.” 🙄 I know it’s in pretty good condition; that’s why I had designs on selling it now! My kids came home from college and piled all their dorm stuff in my studio. I was going through it all yesterday. What annoys me most are the bags and boxes of stuff that should just be integrated back into the household, like laundry detergent, shampoo and graph paper. Just put it back with the others, people! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2ndGenHomeschooler Posted June 11, 2019 Share Posted June 11, 2019 We finished school on Friday and today I started cleaning out the coat closet that we turned into school storage. I pulled the bins of “out of use” books out of the basement and emptied the closet into the living room. It’s all roughly sorted into piles based on what’s going back in and what needs a new home. I have one box filled with books to pass on to a younger homeschool family. I thought my DH would be impressed with that. A whole box of books to give away! And it’s full! He wasn’t. Could have something to do with the fact that I emptied *two boxes of new books for next year and one box of hand me down books from a friend that need shelf space now. My living room floor, couch, and chairs are all covered in school stuff now and I’ve lost interest in the project. It’s supposed to be pizza and movie night here, though, and there’s no where left to sit to watch a movie. I guess I better figure out what to do with it all. Ugh... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanaqui Posted June 12, 2019 Share Posted June 12, 2019 I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure. (Quick, turn around - those books just multiplied!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted June 12, 2019 Share Posted June 12, 2019 13 hours ago, PeterPan said: I know, sigh. I'm getting ready to tell myself to get religion about this. I'm 43, the kid-bearing days are over, it's time. I got one room done in the basement that didn't have books, but now I'm working on a room that has them. I'm dreading it, because I have to get serious and DO it. It may be painful. I'm telling myself really nice things like "Make happy memories for the next family" and stuff like that... When we moved out of the rectory and into our actual home in VA, we took 200 books to the thrift store. Didn't blink an eye; they were all books we had no attachment to. Then we loaded up about 50 boxes from home and I'd say a good 20 from dh's office; in the grand scheme of things, 200 was nothing! Books are hard 😂 Otoh, I have been living here since Oct with less than 25 books on my shelf. Feels...wrong. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted June 12, 2019 Share Posted June 12, 2019 My local libraries have knitting clubs for kids. I donated there when my kids have their favorites for yarn and the rest were not used. It is easier to give away when repurchasing is affordable and you know gifting would definitely bless someone else. One of DS13’s favorite yarn was a gift from the library knitting club during his first drop in session there. I have given away readers when I know for sure my kids aren’t attached to them to families that has asked because their kids (younger then mine) love them. Books like the magic school bus, Clifford the big red dog, Thomas the tank engine. I gave away my high school math textbooks to my juniors who could not afford to buy. One of my junior wrote “Gift from **** to be pass on” on the inside page and he passed the book on to his junior. It was so funny when more than a decade later, a friend told me he saw that book with his buddy’s relative and it has a long list of names with the year. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HollyDay Posted June 12, 2019 Share Posted June 12, 2019 you are singing my song. So often I donate something then realize someone didn't want me to. I've started boxing or bagging this up, then leaving them either in the garage or back of van for a period of time (usually 3 months). If no one wants them at the end of 3 months, then they are gone. The only exception to that rule is seasonal things. If heavy winter clothing is outgrown, it is gone. If it is not used after 2 seasons, it is gone. With dc heading off to college, I've started memory boxes for them. I'm putting cards, childhood keepsakes (like movie ticket stubs, disney passes, ballet/music recital booklets, bookmarks, etc), etc. in the boxes for them to sort. I've already pulled out the things I want to keep and already put those in memory boxes in my closet. They have childhood toys they want to keep for their children and of course we have favorite board books and childhood books boxed away already Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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