Spring Cleaning

Dear Lord, where did all this junk come from? Seriously. I threw away an entire garbage bag full of stuff from my closet today and you cannot tell one bit of difference. We are constantly fighting the junk that creeps into our house. The endless piles of mail to go through and sort. The piles of toys. The clothes to be donated, stored away for a different season, or for the younger child.

We spent hours yesterday putting away the Christmas tree and assorted paraphernalia but I still feel cluttered and trapped by all this stuff. Last weekend I cleared out 2 boxes of stuff from my kitchen cabinets. The week before that I emptied half of the toys from Bear's toy box to clear space for the new stuff he would inevitably get for Christmas despite my warnings that we do not need any more toys!!!!

I feel like I spend the better part of my life putting away clutter, sorting clutter or throwing away clutter. You cannot imagine the hours we have spent clearing out cabinets, closets, baskets and under beds. There has to be some way to get this under control but I can't figure out how. The simplest answer would be to quit bringing in stuff but we live in a disposable society where nothing ever seems to be designed to last longer than a season. A new sweater purchased in September looks like something fit for my dog to sleep on my December. No matter the price spent or the supposed quality. The kids outgrow clothes faster than I can buy them. The mailbox is always overflowing with statements, advertisements, invitations all needing to be read, sorted and saved or discarded. Plus the constant upgrading to the new improved etc appliance or electronic gadget.

I also half believe that my junk breeds in the quiet dark corners of closets and kitchen cabinets. There is no way I could have possibly purchased 40+ shot glasses in my lifetime, right? And considering the fact that I can't actually remember the last time I took a shot I believe it is safe to whittle the collection down to no more than a quarter of it's current size. The funny thing is that I am not a hoarder by nature. I honestly do not care to have 2 dozen of everything (except maybe flip flops because I do need a pair in every color Old Navy has ever carried). Beyond that small weakness I am quite adept at throwing out the old. I enjoy the purging process I just wish I had to do it a little less often.