I have been cleaning out closets and the children\u2019s rooms today. It was the garage last week. I\u2019ve been selling stuff on ebay. I get to have clean closets, and a little extra money in my pocket. It sounds simple enough. As with all things that sound simple, it really isn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
My family is addicted to stuff. Where I like to throw things away, they like to keep everything. I blame it on my husband. He keeps everything. His parents taught him to never throw anything away. So, I guess I blame my in-laws for this attachment to inanimate objects. <\/p>\n
They cry, these children of mine, when I unearth toys that are long forgotten, but when cleaned and listed on ebay, are remembered as a long lost treasure. I would go along with them if it were only one or two things, but everything<\/span>? Somehow I don\u2019t think so. I don\u2019t believe my 3 year old when she cries because I am getting rid of a pair of pajama shorts she outgrew last summer and hasn\u2019t seen since. Not every object can be a beloved object, or it starts to lose it\u2019s meaning, and I start to lose patience.<\/p>\n I\u2019m just not sentimental about stuff. There are things in our house that I like, but I could live without the vast majority of them. Is that cold-hearted? I hope not. <\/p>\n I wonder what it is that they are afraid of\u2026They have never gone without anything important, and have so much extra that it overflows closets and dressers. The overflow of my family spills into all the common areas. Their own private spaces are not large enough to contain it all. It is the very definition of disgusting excess.<\/p>\n I have even packed stuff up to take to Goodwill, and they have never noticed what is gone, but ask them to thin out the clutter and all day isn\u2019t long enough to fill even a single grocery sack.<\/p>\n So, I\u2019ll be the cold and ruthless one. My husband is job hunting and we may have to move, and I\u2019m not taking all this stuff with me. Deep down, I think they appreciate my efforts on their behalf. Without me they would drown in the junk they collect.<\/p>\n I\u2019m sure every day they give thanks for me and my ruthless cleaning, but most of all that generally I\u2019m too busy or tired to do it.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I have been cleaning out closets and the children\u2019s rooms today. It was the garage last week. I\u2019ve been selling stuff on ebay. I get to have clean closets, and a little extra money in my pocket. It sounds simple enough. As with all things that sound simple, it really isn\u2019t. My family is addicted […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1979,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n