Less Really Is More

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At the beginning of summer, I went on a tangent and decided that I was gonna clear out the clutter once and for all.  I went thru every single room, every closet, every dresser.  I was ruthless.  If it had any stains on it - out it went.  If it even looked like it might be too small - it was a goner.


I was particularly diligent in the playroom.  I try to be mindful of how much stuff these boys accumulate, really I do (don't tell them, but when they're not looking I sometimes get rid of all those cheezy kids' meal toys).  Yet still, our pile of belongings grows and grows.


We had a yard sale and decided to NOT do what we did last time and use the proceeds to go out and buy fun NEW stuff (what was I thinking?!?!).  Instead I stashed it away to use for fun summer activities we wouldn't normally have the money for (it's all gone now - it's amazing how little $187 gets you!).


After all was said and done, though, a funny thing happened.  The kids actually started pulling books off their shelves to read.  I had gotten rid of all the books I thought they should read, all the books I thought looked cute, or that I had loved as a kid.  I kept all the ones that they picked out themselves, or that I know they liked.  Without so many books to look at, they could actually see some that stood out and begged to be read.


I cleared out a LOT of stuff from our playroom (I told you I was ruthless).  Without so many things packed in all the nooks and crannies, they could SEE what was there.  You know how sometimes when you go into Baskin Robbins and there are so many choices, it takes forever to pick out which flavor you want - just because there are SO MANY to choose from?  Well with less stuff I found that they actually played with the stuff they had.  They have subsequently spend hours on the playroom floor going thru bins of Legos and putting them back together.  They have pulled out buckets and just sat and played with their toys.....things they had forgotten they had, stuff they never paid much attention to looked kinda interesting now.


It's been amazing, and a real eye opener for me.  So many times we (I) have so many possesions that we (I) can't see the forest for the trees.  It's all about getting something new, something different, that we (again, I) forget how great some of the things we already have are.  I'm looking at my stuff a little differently now too.  And that's a good thing.