”She watches over the ways of her household, And does not eat the bread of idleness.“
Proverbs 31:27 NKJV
“Ruthlessly declutter.” I’ve heard that a hundred times. I’ve done that with my clothes, shoes, and kitchen appliances. I’ve decluttered papers to be down to very few and only important ones. I have even decluttered what ingredients I use so I don’t waste cupboard space on what won’t get used. But what I hadn’t done, until last night, was apply it to kids toys.
My house looked like a bomb went off.
My girls have been obsessed with crafting with the world’s flimsiest paper plates, and they were everywhere. Kitty faces, party hats, masks, cut-out name-puzzles: everywhere.
Every stuffed animal besides the ones they each sleep with. When I say “every” I mean including my stuffed animals they had found at grandmas house that had now become my children’s obsession; some of them over 30 years old. Stuffed into a basket and spilling over.
Barbies, balls, and bits of paper. Sentimental things, crafts, and garbage all mixed together. Winter hats, puzzles, and race car tracks buried in the rubble that was my living/dining area.
It was absolute chaos.
It was also 9:00 pm. on a Sunday.
I don’t know about you, but I really like to start my week with a clean house. I call it the “Sunday Scrub” where I get the kitchen -not just the dishes – cleaned, the house all put back together neatly, and all the loose things are put away. It is amazing how much better my week goes when I’ve had time to clean my house before it starts.
So this disastrous mess had to be dealt with, for my own sanity.
How to tackle a mountain
First, I started with garbage. The joy of making all those paper plate crafts was in the making. I was not about to keep 40 cat faces and turn them into sentimental items.
I hear about parents who saved everything their kids have ever drawn and storing it for them to appreciate when they’re grown. … that sounds terrible and overwhelming. I keep occasional drawings, but not mindless scribbles. I tossed every paper plate that was out.
Broken toys, snack wrappers, bits of strings, and leftover chicken nuggets from dinner rounded out what turned out to be 2 bags full of trash.
Since nothing else was explicitly garbage, I started with a black trash bag at one end of the room and went one piece at a time. Though that sounds methodical, it was not. I was not slow or graceful about it. I had so much to get through before going to sleep, I went like a madwoman.
If I couldn’t remember my kids playing with an item, it went into the black bag. Gets dumped on the floor and left for other toys? In the bag. Too many of this item available to play with? Bag!
I bagged up Barbie’s, stuffed animals, and dump trucks like nobody’s business. I took out toys that were overlooked and forgotten, and also entire sets I was tired of picking up! I put in puzzles in tiny boxes, a giant koala stuffy whose head had been sewn on time and again, and a big wad of tangled yarn.
I didn’t care! Why should my stuff get preference over me and my family? I was being bullied by objects that I had brought into my house! Certainly I have the power to remove them without a second thought!
(To be transparent, I knew I was doing a “bag it up” method of decluttering, so if anyone asks for a toy by name, I can easily go find it. I have a date on my calendar in 6 months to donate the bags with anything not asked for. I suspect they will be nearly as full as they are now.)
The end of the night
It took me 2 hours, 3 motivational podcasts, and 4 trash bags (2 garbage, 2 stuff), but I had done it.
I did it without my kids knowing and without my husband home. I did it to prove to myself that I can do hard things, even while solo-parenting. I did it for my and my children’s mental health surrounding our home, so we aren’t overwhelmed by our choices. I did it to dive into deep play, more easily. I did it to clean faster and less often. And I did it because I deserve to have a home that is peaceful and calm without tripping over buckets, dolls, and garbage.
I did it because I am the manager of my home and was not about to be defeated by clutter.
I slept well that night – probably from exhaustion – in my clean and orderly home. It was nice to finish a project I knew would be a doozy, but it wasn’t as bad as I expected.
… Though I did go down into my basement and got a deep sense of overwhelm and dread from what was there, but the night was done and I really needed to be, too! “Some other time, basement!” I said, and I ran upstairs and shut the door.
Application
You don’t have to be perfect to make progress. I stretched myself into a night when I would rather be sleeping, but I knew the benefit of decluttering and tidying my home would reap dividends if I just saw it through.
Yes, I was overwhelmed. Tired? You betcha! Was I also done with feeling like a clutter-keeper instead of a home-manager? Yes, Ma’am! So I stepped into my role and cleaned house.
There will always be an excuse to put off decluttering until tomorrow. But you don’t have to look far to see that your clutter will continue to be a problem until you deal with it. So, what steps can you take against your clutter today?
Now, go grab a bag. You’ll thank yourself tomorrow for starting today.