Clutter-induced stress

I am staying home from church today with my little guy who has a bad cold. While he is playing and resting, I am tackling some long overdue de-cluttering. I HATE HATE HATE clutter. However, it builds up so quickly in our house that I can't seem to stay on top of it. I try to remind myself that it could be worse. For example, my boys' babysitter has TONS of toys in her finished basement. She has so many that you can't even see the floor. I'm serious. Just being down there makes me a little twitchy. Lest you think I live in a pristine, completely organized environment, here is what my little boy said to me just a few minutes ago when he walked into his big brother's room AFTER the decluttering: "HEY! What happened to all the stuff?" I said, "Do you mean what happened to the mess?" He said, "Yes, where are all the toys?" Yeah. Obviously the kid is not used to seeing a tidy home. My bad.

Last night I was able to relax a little and read an article in the newest issue of Oprah magazine. (My mother-in-law buys me a subscription to it. Thanks, Donna!) It was about voluntary simplicity. Basically, this is the idea that many people are choosing a simpler lifestyle where they are less tied to material possessions and accumulating wealth. The philosophy is more complicated than that, of course, but the concept really struck a chord with me. I have so often said (when I'm really stressed out) that I wish I could pack up the family and move to a cabin in the woods. We are actually blessed to live on a 2-acre lot in the country where we can see the stars every night and we have room to breathe. And I am very grateful for that. Still, I find myself stressed on a daily basis because so much of my time seems to be spent on taking care of or thinking about our stuff. This morning, I spent probably a good 40 minutes just putting away and picking up stuff in my oldest son's room. And as I was looking at all of it, I realized that he doesn't even play with at least half of it. All kinds of ideas ran through my mind..........could we make an effort to considerably reduce what we have and only keep what is necessary? The Oprah article cited some families who have intentionally moved into smaller homes to force themselves to purge uneeded possessions. I once read about a person who had only one bowl, one plate, one spoon and one cup. I think it was a fictional story, but I have never forgotten it. Wouldn't it be so much easier and even freeing to have only a few things to take care of? Think of how much more time could be spent connecting with your family. My dream would be to live in a little cozy cabin with wall-to-wall bookshelves, little decoration other than things found in nature, and only a few needed possessions. Doesn't that sound restful?

I am going to talk to the DH about this and see if we can come up with a plan to reduce what we have. It's going to be a tough sell with him because he likes to hang onto stuff. And I'm afraid he will think we shouldn't get rid of too much of the boys' stuff because they might get upset, etc. So we'll see where this all goes. If nothing else, maybe I can just gradually start sneaking things out of the house that I'm pretty sure no one will notice. My "stuff" will not be untouched. I have a lot of books and craft stuff that can probably be purged. I like the idea of giving everyone a few of those big Rubbermaid bins and telling them they can keep what will fit into those. I think this would be hard with the boys, though. If you are reading this I would love to hear from you about any great ideas you may have for cutting back on STUFF, especially all the kids' toys. For now, I have to go. More clutter to bust in the basement..............