Decluttering

My spring cleaning is finished for another year. 👏 From March-May, I deep clean one room per week. Then I give myself a break until the heat of summer, when I tackle the basement. It's cool & comfortable working down there during heat waves. I always dread doing the storage room. Somehow every year it becomes a disorganized catch-all. But once I push myself to get started, it's a good feeling to get it cleaned out/organized. And I might even find missing string lights for the front deck that we were sure we didn't pitch but absolutely couldn't find. 

I'm too thrifty and sentimental to be a minimalist, but I [at least like to] think that I'm getting better at getting rid of things. I listen to a decluttering podcast. The lady recommends asking yourself 3 questions: Do I use it? Do I love it? Would I buy it again? I have things that I love that I don't use (think family heirlooms) which she gives me permission to keep. But there are things that I haven't used or worn for several years that she encourages me to let go of. With each passing year I get a better grip on the reality that my children are never going to want some of my "stuff", so I might as well save them the trouble of getting rid of it after I'm gone. Full disclosure: I have a tote full of sentimental things -including some notes my best friend & I passed in Jr high school- that I'm hanging on to because it evokes good memories every time I look through it. I'm under no delusions that my children are going to go through it after I pass and go "what in the world, Mom?!" The idea of them throwing it out after I'm gone doesn't bother me, but I'll keep it for now because it's stuff that still makes me laugh/smile. 

Photo of the week: teaching my grands how to use rubber stamps at Craft Day at the local ice cream shop.