Is it the time or the stuff?

jnbythesea · **Is it the time or the stuff?**

What makes your life most hectic and hard to manage... is it a time or a stuff problem?

At my house, it it definitely a Stuff Thing. As fast as I can purge stuff comes back in ( a lot of it from well meaning Granny, who can't come in empty handed). Also, I have that long history of overbuying. And with two little ones in the house, the time to deal with the stuff is limited. But- definitely a stuff problem here.

jmhouck2001 · 10-06-2007, 07:13 AM

I would definitely have to say a STUFF thing here, too. I know what you mean about how things just seem to accumulate. IT stresses me out that there is always so much STUFF everywhere...mostly toys. And with the thought of Christmas coming it makes me sick. The kids get gifts from us, both sets of grandparents, 2 sets of great grandparents and 2 aunts and uncles. It is just sickening at how much STUFF they get. Anyway, I am trying to go through and get rid of half of their toys because I can't stand how much space it takes up in our home and in our life. I feel like I am always worried about picking up when I could be playing more with the kids.

mommy&wifeisme · 10-06-2007, 07:31 AM

it's a time thing for us. We only have new things coming in around birthdays and holidays. And grandparents just bring over cookie or a small candy treat when visiting. I even have half of the toys stored in the basement. But, just with the daily routine feeding, dressing, diapers, school, cleaning up toys. It's hard to just maintain the house, I never can get anything extra done. Like baby books, spring/fall cleaning, what have you. ASnd then when there is a party or a holiday coming up wow even more hectic.

brensmom · 10-06-2007, 07:33 AM

i would say its the stuff as well but we are slowly concuring it one room at a time and i can see the light at the end of the tunnel. with 14 years worth of stuff it is a daunting task and i see it taking until next fall to be totally simplified.

treehugger · 10-06-2007, 08:30 AM

STUFF!!! I've gotten rid of a lot of toys and so it's really not that. I think it's just the daily stuff, like the papers and projects from school, the armfuls of catalogs from the mailbox, whatever it is that lands on my countertops every single day. Just daily stuff...ahhhhhh

aliadam · 10-06-2007, 08:32 AM

Mine is definitely a stuff thing too. I would have plenty of time if I used it well. But I have stuff that really doesn't have a "home", so I just keep moving it around. Especially papers....ugh...those are a never ending battle.

melsb · 10-06-2007, 09:58 AM

A year ago I probably would have said time and stuff but now it appears to be mostly stuff though the time fact does get pulled in from time to time (no pun intended!)

Cookie2 · 10-06-2007, 10:01 AM

Stuff, stuff and more stuff.

I'm sick of it.

My problem is I'm not the clutter-bug. Hubby is. Since he travels so much, he leaves me with the 'stuff' and I have to stare at it until he comes home. It takes a great deal of self-control to not nag him to work on his piles the moment he walks through the door. Instead I try to let him get over the jet-lag first and maybe spend some fun time together as a family. Seems as soon as we do that he is gone again and the 'stuff' never gets addressed. The piles just grow. I'm not allowed to go through the piles because there might be something vital and work-related in there.

alaska-mama-of-2 · 10-06-2007, 10:55 AM

It is a Stuff issue here as well. I declutter and get rid of and then feel great. But, it seems like I blink and we have accumlated more stuff. I think it multiplies on it own. We try very hard but, stuff seems to come in faster than it goes out. It seems that decluttering is one of those never ending projects. I too am dreading Christmas with the toy issue. My DS's birthday is in Nov and DD is in Feb and with Christmas inbetween it doesn't seem like there is a break. Lots of kid stuff comes in the house between Nov and Feb.

jnbythesea · 10-06-2007, 05:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmhouck2001

I would definitely have to say a STUFF thing here, too. I know what you mean about how things just seem to accumulate. IT stresses me out that there is always so much STUFF everywhere...mostly toys. And with the thought of Christmas coming it makes me sick. The kids get gifts from us, both sets of grandparents, 2 sets of great grandparents and 2 aunts and uncles. It is just sickening at how much STUFF they get. Anyway, I am trying to go through and get rid of half of their toys because I can't stand how much space it takes up in our home and in our life. I feel like I am always worried about picking up when I could be playing more with the kids.

Christmas coming up also makes me feel stressed- we certainly don't need more toys. I always have a list going of things the kids do need, but no one ever asks for suggestions, and how can you "put your list out there" without offending people or seeming grabby? Last year I really scrooged out about wanting people to buy only certain things... this year I'm just going to try to have a grateful heart.