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3 Kids, 2 Dogs and 1 Old House

From Mom

Uncluttered House, Uncluttered Mind…

29 April 2015
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Have you ever watched Hoarders – Buried Alive?

No?  Well let me quickly debrief you.

Basically people accumulate so much crap that they eventually they suffer a slow death underneath all their “collectible” things.  Well not exactly.  The TV show on TLC tries to help them before the get killed under a newspaper avalanche.  You won’t actually believe it until you see it – that people can actually live like that.  They accumulate so much junk that they just can’t part with that they end up making tunnels to get around and sleep in a little nook that they have created for themselves.  It’s disgusting and legit whack.

(Also, I can’t tell you how much I enjoy watching the trash on TLC.  People be crazy yo)

Obviously I have a totally rational fear of ending up like one of these hoarders.  It’s hidden in my blood (my Mom may or may not still have her school uniform from preschool.  Just saying).

So obviously I go the opposite, opting to give anything and everything away whenever I have a moment.

The problem is that I just haven’t had a moment.  For a long time.  So we’ve been accumulating stuff.  And more stuff, and then some more stuff.  Every time I opened my cupboard I felt overwhelmed and finding clothes that actually fits the girls was a flipping nightmare.

Eventually enough was enough and it had to go.

I opened my cupboard and pulled out everything that I couldn’t fit into, anything I hadn’t worn in over a year and things that I knew I wouldn’t wear again (hello satin shirt that I bought in the very brief craze and never wore because it was too shiny).  I divided it up and gave some to Sandy (our house fairy) for her 4 kids and the rest I gave to our Swap Shop.

Never heard of a swap shop?  You should totes try it with your friends!  Basically you all go through your cupboards and bag everything you don’t want, then one afternoon you all get together and go through each others stuff, taking what you like and then donating the rest to charity.  At our last one we extended it to kids clothes too.  Pretty novel idea huh?

Anyway, for the kids I pulled everything out of their cupboards and only put things back that fitted them.

How we accumulated this amount of stuff just blows my mind (this isn’t even the hanging stuff!):

IMG_20150419_115904

But dividing it up and keeping just a few treasured pieces was so liberating that I was on a high for a week.  We managed to get rid of a lot…

IMG_20150419_145240

Next on my hit list is my tuppaware cupboard and kids toys.  (I can’t tell you how excited they are for that process!)

Now all I have to do is part with my own preschool uniform (high school uniform, matric dance dress, wedding dress and every bridesmaid dress I’ve ever worn) and I’ll be well on my way to steering clear of the junk avalanche. Hooray!

 

Like what you’ve read here?  That’s great man – feel free to share it with your friends.  Also come hang out with me on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram where you can expect to find a whole lot more of this, just shorter.
Uncluttered House, Uncluttered Mind… was last modified: April 29th, 2015 by 321Blog
buried aliveclean outclothesclutterdeclutterfamilyhoardermotherhoodparentingpersonalrandomSouth Africaspring cleanstory
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11 comments

Gina 29 April 2015 at 2:14 PM

I did a huge clean out before we moved. Amazing how much stuff I gave away. I just did another one now since its a season change. My kids have grown like weeds!!!!! So much stuff got given away.

Reply
Dawn Clulow 29 April 2015 at 2:31 PM

the girls will love to wear your long dresses. so dont dare give them away. cant tell you how much fun i had in my moms. was devasated to find out it wasnt her wedding dress when i got older. but such fun. and keep your uniform so your kids can laugh at you when you can still fit into it…. mwah. love you my daughter.

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Naidene Cooper 29 April 2015 at 2:31 PM

My friends and I host a clothing swap/swish party every few months. Not only is it great fun and opportunity to catch up but we always come away with lovely items.

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Pat Pughe-Parry 29 April 2015 at 3:59 PM

Nice article – I have shared it on our ADHD Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Living-ADDventure

Reply
Caley 29 April 2015 at 5:06 PM

Nice work Cinds – I am the complete opposite to a hoarder! I chuck everything, every six months and it feels so good! Since moving into our new home, I’ve been very good at cleaning out every room every 6 months and I love how good it feels… Some of those dresses are never to be parted with x

Reply
Cassey Toi 29 April 2015 at 8:05 PM

The swap shop sounds great. I have a give-away bag always on the go, it’s mostly clothes though. Just need to find a way to declutter everything else.

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The Blessed Barrenness 30 April 2015 at 11:20 AM

Swap shop… I LOVE this idea!

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lindsaytom 30 April 2015 at 12:07 PM

This just happens to be one of my plans for the long weekend, kids cupboard needs a BIG makeover!

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Namreen Sonday 1 May 2015 at 1:49 PM

I did a bit of de-cluttering myslef over the weekend. Oh but the things i have found in ‘storage’ *cringe*

Reply
Harassedmom (@laurakim123) 2 May 2015 at 11:24 AM

Well done!!!

My word of the year 3 years was create order and in that year I was ruthless. I spent the whole year decluttering. I threw out crap, removed unused furniture, donated bags and bags and BAGS of clothes and toys. The house actually felt lighter. Now it is easier to do it once every 3 months!

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catjuggles 4 May 2015 at 1:38 PM

I decluttered one area in the dining room on Friday – I threw out one and a half bin bags of stuff. Mostly useless stuff. Feels great – but I have way way more to do

Reply

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After living a very normal suburban life we packed up everything to live in a VW van for a year as a family of 5. Now that we have traveled our beautiful country we are back to normal but trying to remember what it was like to live with less, spend time in nature and build on our family bonds. Join us on the journey.

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