Out With the Old

It amazes me how quickly junk piles up and clutters our home. Sometimes I’m not even sure where the stuff comes from. It’s like it just sprouts up through the carpet. So, to keep my sanity I’ve found it necessary (and refreshing) to frequently organize or get rid of things in our house.

With a million things to do as a stay-at-home mom it is very important to me that my two oldest girls are able to clean their room on their own. The room is rather small (though not the smallest in the house), and hits the “disastrous” status way too often. Because of this I am frequently trying to find new ways to organize their toys and make it easier for them to pick up.

Just this past week I found myself standing in the midst of their freshly “cleaned” room, gazing at piles of toys stuffed in corners and heaped onto Paige’s bed (she has the bottom bunk). I was frustrated and desperate for a solution, so I did what any reasonable, well-organized, level-headed mother would do.

I stuffed all their toys into trash bags and put them in the storage closet.

To be honest, I expected them to come home and have a fit (they were at Grammy’s when I did this). I expected tears and promises of better cleaning practices but instead they just laughed and giggled with joy as they jumped into their newly cleaned out toy box to play.

Yeah. They liked the EMPTY box better than the one full of toys.

They did eventually end up asking me where their toys had gone. I explained that we needed to get rid of some things so that it would be easier to keep our house (and their room) looking nice. So we took the toys out one by one and decided whether or not we were going to keep them.

Of course, I anticipated the typical kid responses of “but that’s my favorite toy!” and I told them that if they could get rid of a lot of their toys (even some of the ones they liked to played with) then they could each get one new, nice toy.

So they did.

We haven’t quite finished, and I plan on doing it all again before Christmas comes around, but I feel a lot better about the amount of toys they have in their room right now.

And now I’m thinking of all the other things that need a good cleaning out.

The closet.

The bookcases.

Our lives.

Yes, even our lives have a tendency to collect clutter.

We may start off well-organized and neat but so often the crazy days and hectic schedules lead to junk-piles of tv, lazy habits and unhealthy choices.

So, in the spirit of, um, Fall Cleaning, I want to begin cleaning out the old, useless habits of our lives so that we may be filled with new and wonderous things of God.

Because let’s face it, newly cleaned out spaces are way more fun than cluttered old ones.

What about you? Are you cleaning out any areas of your home or lives?