Revising the List

Well, sometimes good intentions have to be revised along the way.  I was doing a little research into the art of Feng Shui and the deeper I got into it, the more I realized that it did not jive with my Christianity.  So I have revised my #17 on the bucket list.  Originally it read "Learn about and start using the art of Feng Shui".  While I don't plan on using all of the steps, the first step of using Feng Shui resonated with me.  Declutter your life first.  I come from a long line of borderline hoarders.  About the only reason I am not a true hoarder is because I move so much.  It also helps that I am married to a semi neat freak.  But even he has his cluttered areas.

I think my biggest problem in this area is that I go all gung-ho in the beginning, but I burn out quickly.  I forget that once it's done, it has to be kept up on a regular basis.  Clutter doesn't just take care of itself if you don't have a symptom.  So starting today, I'm going to make a list of all of the areas of clutter in my house and slowly work my way around to decluttering each space a little at a time.

Paper

This is a given.  I mean, who doesn't have paper clutter, right?  It comes into the house daily.  Mail, kids backpacks, receipts, magazines, newspapers, etc, etc.  I have a catch all area where most of the paper clutter goes and I have already done some decluttering in the area in the last few months.  But, I haven't found a really good system for controlling it yet.  I will have to continue working with this area and hopefully find a good system.

Toys

I have a 7 year old with developmental delays and a 3 year old who is almost on track developmentally.  Basically, A (the 7 year old)'s idea of playing is to load up a whole bunch of toys into a box (or most recently the laundry basket) and dump them out against a wall.  Repeat a thousand times.  His other obsession right now is kicking the kick ball in the hallway against the doors.  We live in the rainy northwest so we let him.  K's at least playing appropriately with her toys when A doesn't take them from her.  She wraps her babies in blankets and "puts them to bed".  She is also into "reading" books and likes to lay on the floor and turn the pages.  The problem with that is if you don't monitor the amount of time, she eventually starts tearing pages in the books.

So the toy situation is really a headache.  There are toys and books that have been taken from the children when they start playing inappropriately so now K's room is a catch all where there are toys in the closet, on top of her dresser and on top of two rows of shelves which were originally installed for my scrapbooking stuff (up high so they can't get to it).  It's a mess.

Clothes

Part of the issue with clothing is that I refuse to buy more clothes for myself until I lose enough weight to fit into the ones I have.  However, the longer it takes for me to really get off my butt and start losing weight, the more the clothes I have will go out of style.  I just can't bring myself to get rid of them though.  I have boxes of the kids outgrown clothes to go to the consignment store and just haven't done it yet. 

Crafting Supplies

This is another area where I want to really get rid of stuff but I have that mentality of "what if I need this some day?".  I just need to be ruthless in this area.  And while I do still scrapbook occasionally, I find that I'm not even using most of my "old" stuff when I do.  Time to purge.

Other Areas

I am sure as I begin this project, I will find more areas that need to be decluttered.  I wan to have a home that is full of energy and welcoming and inviting.  Right now, I just cringe when I see my house.  I keep it relatively "neat" but the clutter screams at me and makes me uncomfortable.  Just like my classroom.  I have decluttered a few areas and everyone tells me my classroom looks so organized.  But to me, I just feel the stress of the cluttered areas (even though they're hidden).  This will be a long journey.