Overwhelmed...

Around October of last year I was feeling completely overwhelmed by all the toys in our living room (our only living space). And aware that Christmas was coming and more toys were headed our way, I started to clean them out, as I did once a month. At first I did my usual sort-through and took out all the crappy McDonald's Happy Meal toys. But then I started really looking at the stuff I was sorting back into bins. Did they really need ALL of these toys? Before I could think twice about it (and before anyone woke up/got home from school), I sorted down to the true loves, classics, and, well, stuff I wanted them to have. We went from three racks of toys to two, one of them only half-full. I'd been hanging onto Mr. T's toys that he hadn't played with in possibly years. I'd kept every little necklace, purse and trinket we'd picked up for Miss G. And although Miss S was over two years old at the time, I still had out infant toys.

All of that is now in my basement, waiting for donation. I tend to hang on to things just in case one of the kids (the slightly anal-retentive Mr. T, if we're naming names) notices it's gone and wants it back. I'm just about up to donating.

But today I noticed (while my crazy sister had Mr. T and Miss G at hell - I mean Chuck E. Cheese's), that Miss S was really able to play with a lot more and keep up with putting it away since it was all in bins with nothing else but its own type of toy. She didn't just drag everything out looking for a few things to play with. THEY were overwhelmed too. I don't know why it took me six months to notice this.

Now I need to do the same thing with my own stuff. Maybe I'm overwhelmed too. I guess I could actually throw out the box of acrylic yarn I keep holding on to but know that I will never use. Or sort through my giant dresser full of other yarns. Or my books. Or papers from college (seriously, I think by now if I ever do make it to grad school, I'll just have to start over). And all the hundreds of other clutter maker I keep around.