It's Just "Stuff"

G and I are cleaning out our home.  Clothes, shoes, handbags and accessories from the bedroom.  An huge overflow of kitchen items we have no need for.  Some will get donated, some freecycled, some items listed on etsy (vintage items).  The point is that I've felt for a long time like we're drowning in stuff.  We're both sentimental, and can hold onto items too long.  It's hard to not say, "But what if I need/want that later?"

But it's just stuff.  No item can replace the memories.  Nothing I hold onto will keep my grandmama here forever.  There are some items we will never willingly part with, but most of it just makes our home cluttered and drives me insane.  So instead of cherishing items we begin to resent them.  

When we're talking about having a family in the next couple of years it hits me that I don't want this for them.  I feel safer in a nice, clean, organized environment.  With clutter I shut down and hide.  And I'm pretty sure my kids will be similar, so we're working to get some semblance of order.  This Thanksgiving was the first big dinner in a long while that we made a point to clean up as we went along, so after putting up the leftovers I was left with a fairly clean kitchen.  No sink of dishes that overwhelm me.  No counters that have flour on them.  Just a few wineglasses and silverware that needed to be handwashed.  And after dinner G washed dishes and we enjoyed ourselves having a squirt bottle water fight.  We ended up mopping up the floor with all the excess water and laughing the night away.  

So, we're slowing piecing together our home.  We've lived here a year.  We now know where things will work best for us.  What we need to buy (bookcases and more bookcases) in order to get the house nice and tidy.  And we've made a goal to get the house organized and tidy before G leaves in about 3 months.  That way all I have to do is maintain what little mess I make.  It's hard to let go of things, to not save them for a "rainy day."  But I'd much rather have a tidy home and my sanity.