I was reminded of my hate for clutter as we were reorganizing and eliminating items from our basement. It’s incredible what a space can morph into when decluttered. Much of this session was focused on baby clothes, toys and related items. The odd aspect of this situation was that we did not buy 99% of what we were eliminating from our home. On one hand, we feel completely blessed that family and friends feel the need to shower our kids with clothing and toys, but on the other hand, we are learning that once an item has run its course (and doesn’t fit or is not being played with), then it’s time to promptly rid our living area of it. Other families and charities could certain utilize what we’ve cleared our space with. That certainly makes us feel good. :)

The aspect of excessive toys is something I was mindful of well before having our first child. We don’t want to raise spoiled children who grow up to be spoiled adults and have unrealistic and unhealthy attachment to material objects; We see these people everyday and they don’t even know how pitiful they are.  I’m not going to lie about the emotional component (in the back of my mind…) of decluttering particular spaces. It’s as if you almost feel you are slapping the family and friends in the face by eliminating their gifts, but it’s good to keep in mind that the thought/action of gift-giving is the most important thing and not the timeframe in which a baby/toddler uses the respective items. They’re kids, right? They grow….fast!

In the end, the space was clean, organized and will remain that way until the next episode…..that we hope to avoid. :)