Life as I know it...: Too Much Stuff

I have too much stuff!!!

STUFF (hiding underneath is my dining room table)

As I am doing my usual Monday morning routine...let me re-phrase that...as I am doing my usual Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday routine of cleaning my kitchen, sweeping my floor, picking up laundry, toys, papers, books, kids, sippy cups, soothers, etc., etc., I think to myself..."I have too much stuff!!!". The Berenstain Bears have a book with the title "Too Much Stuff" and I have read it to my kids many times, hoping that the moral of the story will sink into their spongy little brains and keep them from being hoarders when they grow up. Perhaps that book wasn't published when I was a kid, could that be the reason I have so much crap in my house?? Perhaps it is because even though we live in a computer using, tree hugging world, I still get stacks upon stacks of paper sent home from every school and activity our children go to. Perhaps it's because I get emails daily from Toys R' Us tempting me from the comfort of my own home. Perhaps it's because I have four of my own kids plus a day home. Perhaps it's because I keep buying organizational paraphernalia in the hopes of one day getting organized. Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps.

Perhaps one day I will live in a house that is always neat and tidy, where I don't have toys on the floor, dishes in the sink, laundry piled up, beds un-made, floors to sweep, etc., etc. Perhaps.

my kitchen sink in it's usual state

In the meantime though, I will keep my chin up and my shoes on - just so I don't get anything sticky stuck to the bottom of my bare feet - and I will go about my days cleaning, organizing and going crazy!!

I really have decided that I need to get rid of some of what I have and to stop buying things just because. Just becuase they are a good deal. Just because my kid wants it. Just because I am bored. Just because it is cute. Just because. I am hoping that by not bringing in more, using up what I have and getting rid of what I don't need, I just might become organized!!

Years ago, when I had just started dating my husband, my Grandma said to me: "Does Greg know that you are a terrible housekeeper and bad with money?"...thanks Grandma!! He very quickly became aware of those two things...and he still married me! 9 years of marriage and two things have not changed on bit:

1. I am still a terrible housekeeper

2. I am still bad with money

Lucky for me, I married Greg - someone who is so competely opposite of me - and he has accepted these two little quirks of mine, plus the multitude of other quirks I have!

Well, I must go now and try to find my dining room table so I can feed the five pre-schoolers in my house, because apparently my island has been commandeered by little artists and I will now have to scrub the paint off my island, chairs and the floor, I am sure!

And Will's face!