here it comes…a new year. and along with a new year, on the heels of christmas, comes lots and lots of crap i mean new stuff! i don’t do clutter well. i don’t do mess well. but i hadn’t had kids very long before i realized that they tend to be messy, cluttered and come with a LOT of stuff. i have news for you…less really is better!
around the time we found ourselves parenting four beautiful girls, ages 1, 2, 4 and 7…i came up with a brilliant principle. one thing in = one thing out.
basically, for every new toy you received, get rid of one old toy. for every new piece of clothing that goes into the closet, get rid of something comparable.
what you do with the old stuff is up to you. we sent clothing to the ventura county foster care clothing bank. you probably have similar. you can give toys to a thrift store, pass them on to kids who need them more than you or even find a missionary or church taking toys to an orphanage. if you decide to send them to a thrift store, research it a little. in thousand oaks we have a small thrift store that gives the women from the pregnancy center a discount on baby stuff. we tried to only donate to that thrift store.
your kids don’t need everything you think they need. i promise you. i noticed that the more stuff my girls had to play with, the less satisfied they were and the quicker they got bored.
simplify.
and make your new year easier!
go from this:
to this:
have fun!
