I would first like to thank whomever posted about lining up her kids' stuffed animals and having them pick their five favorites.

We did this at my house Friday... woohoo! There are no longer stuffed animals coming out of the walls. Next we lined up all ds's big cars and trucks, and he picked out five to keep out. The rest we put away. Then we moved on to the garage, where we had an outside line-up of everything with wheels, and the kids got to pick their top three favorites to keep.

The kids enjoyed doing the "line-ups" and picking their favorites. It was fun, not painful.
I also posted recently that I am going to start loading stuff up and moving it out (vs. saving for a garage sale), and this weekend I sent out four boxes and two bags to a church thrift store.

I am trying to be more brutal than ever, and when I got into it and started thinking: I never have to see this pot holder again, I never have to look at these pillow cases or refold this towel again- well, then it became a huge relief and even fun!

Also, I have to report that I had a mini-meltdown on Wednesday when my mother walked in the door with two more bags of stuff- craft items and little storage boxes she got on sale, plus more colored sugar (we have enough to last into the next century already). I was as nice as I could be under the circumstances, but I finally had to say: please, please no more, at least not right now. Can't you see I am drowning in stuff?

I still have tons of things to organize and find places for after the move. We've been in this house not even a month, and every day she was bringing more stuff in... maybe feeling so snowed under and overwhelmed is helping me be more brutal with purging.
The meter is running- it feels so good to get things moved out!

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I don't believe in miracles; I depend on them

Congratulations! Keep up the good work!

Congratulations!

I know once we moved (even after a garage sale) I could still get rid of a ton of stuff. There is stuff from the old house that we moved here, and in a year we haven't seen it. I say ~ GET IT OUT NOW!

I wish I could be as brutal as you. Maybe this winter when I am stuck inside with all this stuff it will get me more motivated.

Great job!

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I keep looking at the clutter building up in the kids' rooms and the playroom (I keep the rest of the house clutter-free..) and it knots me up inside. I have to tackle their clutter, but haven't gained the motivation of strength yet! It seems overwhelming, and I want to do it while they are not around (not easy... they are always around! he he)

Thank you for the inspiration and the ideas (of the toy line-ups!) I will get to it --- I have to do it before this baby arrives!

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"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." ~ Dr. Seuss

You are an inspiration. I did some of that on Saturday and emptied half the closet. It feels so good to free up some space. We are planning on moving in the next few months.....and I'm not taking all that crap to my new home.

Wow, that's a good idea with the toys.
And congratulations on telling your mom "no". That's a big step! Stop the stuff from coming in.

it was me that did the five animal thing and see it was not so bad. you just have to make them make some choices and guess what my kids have not missed one thing they chose not to keep. they have so much more fun now that they can see what they have.

good for you your kids will enjoy the less stuff its so overwhelming for kids!!!!

I am reading a book now that talks about how too many choices cause a great deal of stress in our lives...have you looked at all the choices for canned tomatoes at the grocery store lately??? SO, really paring down on kids toys actually de-stressed them...when they choose between 4 or 5 toys to play with it is a lot easier than having to choose between 50-100!!

I agree 100%. Too many choices definitely causes more stress in my life, not to mention burning up my time as I weigh the options.

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I don't believe in miracles; I depend on them

My thoughts exactly as well...the more crap in my house the more frustrated and stressed I am!!! This weekend I did the same thing with all my clothes. I bagged up 2 big bags of baby clothes to give away. I bagged up 2 bags of my own clothes and shoes and put them on the front porch. I boxed up and got rid of a few knick knacks around the house and they will go out front too for purple heart! I also pulled out a stack of clothes to share with a friend who needed a few things. I got a bin for all the keepsakes my DS keeps collecting like stuff from his baptism and when he was first born. I bagged up some of his toys that he isn't playing with.

So im sure you care about every last thing I got rid of...haha...I just am feeling sooo much better about decluttering once I had finally gotten into the swing of actually doing it!