Less is more!

I got a text from my sister this morning.  She said she was having one of those days yesterday & couldn't fall asleep last night.  She rummaged through her books until she found the one I gave her by Emily Watts.   She said the book saved her day.  I was so thrilled she loved it as much as I do!  The book is called "Being the Mom: 10 coping strategies I learned by accident because I had children on purpose".  Actually Jill turned me on to this book a few years ago (I'll give credit where credit is due!).  I read it & loved it so much I bought it for my two "mommy" sisters one Mother's Day a few years back.

So what does that have to do with this post.  I immediately went to my bookcase, grabbed the book & read the introduction & the first chapter/strategy: "Instead of acquiring more things, use the things you have more creatively".  A great strategy of less is more.  She talks about these 2 capes.  A red one & a black one.  She sewed them & then for years they were used for batman, superman, little red riding hood, snow white, a zombie, a devil, a witch, etc.  She goes on to say that  things that have multiple uses are almost always more fun, cheaper & better than things with one specific use.  And then the paragraph that hit me....

"I have learned since the dog debacle (another example) that our possessions own us almost as fully as we own them.  Everything we bring into our homes and lives requires a little piece of our time and attention to care for it; to keep it clean, to store it or display it, to maintain its functionality.  So I think we need to be selective and choose to hang on to things that 'give back' in an emotional sense as much as they extract."

That got me thinking of the amount of stuff in my house.  Just stuff.  6 people worth of stuff.  Toys, games, clothes, books, plain ol' junk, etc.  But mostly toys.  I marched into the kitchen, grabbed a garbage bag, grabbed my new label maker from the office & peered inside the toy closet.

Yikes!

Less is more, right?  Honestly I have never been opposed to passing toys along or donating them.  And in my defense I did do a great giveaway before Christmas.  I swear these toys are multiplying on me!

To cut to the chase here is what a few hours worth of work can get you

Do you hear the hallelujah chorus too?!

I was happy to find a few missing pieces to some favorite games during the great clean up.

I love my new label maker!  I bought it to label all those silly cords in my office; cell phones, camcorder, laptops, digital cameras & apparently cords from 3 cell phones ago too.  Actually those didn't get labeled, they got the boot!

And here is the "headed to DI trailer" pile. 

Ahhh, it felt so nice to get that done.  Until I turned around & saw the mess the boys had made while I was busy.  That's beside the point, right?!  Now I think I'll take a week & apply this to the rest of my house before getting to strategy 2.