I Am Worn Out

Remember yesterday I told you Tim was going to put new carpet in Zach's room?  Well, he did.  It looks fab.  That compelled me to go thru all Zach's stuff and ask those three important questions (keep? toss? donate?).  It was a long day.  But very productive.  Here are a few BEFORE pics (don't judge!):

As you can see, Zach takes after his big brother.  They have a tendency to just dump everything on their dresser.  Not only did we de-clutter Zach's room and put new carpet in, we also changed the theme from his (former) beloved Spongebob to WWE wrestling.  THAT made me sad.  But, hey, they grow up, right?  It IS his room, and I'm a firm believer in letting my kids have their own space to with what they want (within reason).  We didn't finish until 7:00 last night, dog tired.  But it's done.  Just this weekend alone, I have THIRTEEN bags full of stuff to go to Goodwill.  And FIVE bags of TRASH in the garage.  I would have to say that about 75% of the stuff was a no-brainer.  Definitely either toss or donate.  That left us with the other 75% which was a little more difficult.  That 25% consisted of toys, books or clothes that had some type of sentimental (or monetary) value.  REALLY nice clothes that I hated to give away, but if your child won't wear it - it's really just clutter, right?  Regardless of how much it cost, or who bought it for them.  No wear = No stay.  And then there were the nice toys.  The ones that were expensive. That were the "hot" toy a year or so ago that I spent HOURS trying to track down for Christmas.  The ones my boys saved up and did chores to earn money so they could buy it.  I was so tempted to keep those, but then reminded myself that if it's not being used by us (and hadn't BEEN used in quite some time)...surely there is a little boy out there that could put it to good use.  Because all we're doing with it is letting it collect dust.  So off to Goodwill they went!  We also had a good discussion about how we should really implement a 24 hour rule before we make our purchases.  (Truth be told, I AM REALLY THE CULPRIT HERE).  We are all big impulse buyers.  And that's what got us into the state we are in - filled with clutter.  I figure if we can hold off for 24 hours, and we STILL gotta have it, and have a spot for it, then OK - get it.  I'm making a big leap here, but I'm guessing that after 24 hours it won't seem so important.  Less purchasing = Less clutter = More money in our pocket.  Here are the AFTER photos:

While cleaning and organizing his bookshelf
I took that time to remind him how lucky he is
that he has so many books.  When I told him
that there are lots of kids in this world who don't
own even ONE book, he truly was surprised.
That's a sad, but true fact.

He does his homework at the kitchen table,
so I thought why not make better use of his
desk which was just a placeholder for crap.
Now he can sit in his chair and play with
all his wrestling action figures (Heaven for him!)

Wow!  There really was a dresser
underneath all that STUFF!

There was some discussion (mainly by Tim) that we should keep some of the nicer stuff for a yard sale.  I was tempted to agree until I remembered our last yard sale.  Which was just like all the other yard sales we've had.  LOTS of work upfront.  Spend all day sitting in triple digit temps.  Price a $30 item for $2, only to be asked if you will take a quarter for it.  No thank you.  We're making progress.  It's slow going.  We still have LOTS to do.  I'm worn out, but encouraged.