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Messy Moms help thread (dads and others too!) - Page 4

post #61 of 122
10/15/10 at 9:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by rhiOrion View Post
So, I rarely use plastic grocery bags, but occasionally I forget and end up with some. Someone give me permission to throw them away. They're taking over my under-the-sink cabinet and the trunk of my car waiting for me to take them to the store recycling box.
use them to hold other garbage you're ditching
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post #62 of 122
10/15/10 at 10:15pm
this is a great thread...subbing!
post #63 of 122
10/16/10 at 8:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Juvysen View Post
I've been doing the "just throw it out" thing... which feels awkward to me. I threw out a bunch of stuff, but man, throwing out books? Just feels wrong. I don't know what else to do with them, though...
I always donate my books to the local independent used book store. They technically have a buy back program, but I always just give the books to them. I figure it helps them and me and it's better than throwing them out.
post #64 of 122
10/16/10 at 8:39pm
Everytime I am about to save something and start to think, "I can do such and such with that" then I remeber that I am not that kind of person and into the donate pile it goes. I figure when I declutter enough, I will have time to the the types of projects that I actually will do, not the imaginary ones I like to think I will do.
post #65 of 122
10/16/10 at 9:24pm
Plastic grocery bags:

1) Reuse for trash
2) Throw things in to donate
3. when you take stuff to donate, give them a bag full of plastic bags too, they use them when people buy stuff.
4) Not sure about in the States, but in Australia there are usually plastic bag recycling bins outside large supermarkets.
post #66 of 122
10/20/10 at 11:22am
I'm bumping this...where's our motivator?? Cmon GearGirl, keep us going

I never did get that stuff listed on Craigslist. With DSS appearing out of the blue and life getting crazy very quickly, I just couldn't make time for it.

So I donated it. They just came and picked it all up this morning. And I'm torn because I could've gotten a few hundred dollars out of it all. But honestly I've held onto it for years and never made it happen...so....ugh.

But it's gone And it's freeing up so much space! How's everyone else doing, and where on earth is GG?
post #67 of 122
10/20/10 at 2:32pm
theoretica, yay! i bet it felt good to let that stuff go.

i'm doing the 20/20 home cure (apartment therapy) - it's 20 minutes a day for 20 days. i like it because i like having a clear assignment. today is only day three.

i'm doing pretty well keeping up with my house, but there are a couple of decluttering and deep cleaning projects i want to do. on week nights, i only have time and energy to do my daily stuff and i usually then go to bed with my kids (or if i get back out of bed, it's only to take a bath and then go to sleep). weekends are when i get down to business on the big projects, but our weekends have been insanely busy lately and that's not going to change in the near future. i feel like i just need to force myself to stay up until midnight one of these nights - that would give me 3+ hours to work kid-free. i will be tired the next day, but it would be soooooooo worth it!

geargirl, we need you!
post #68 of 122
10/20/10 at 6:20pm
So what do you do when you realize your home is too big? I have so many places to put clutter out of sight, out of mind, it is driving me mad! There is only 3 of us, soon to be 4, and we have about 2100sqft of livable space, which doesn't include the basement(little clutter only because most of it got ruined, i sold it or moved it up to the unfinished room over the garage (another clutter collector, which is the size of our double garage, but is not nearly full or anything. There is a closet that is full of mostly baby/kids stuff, a big one and some other items spilling out, then our garage, which is home to our van and dh's pool table and misc boxes and stuff that probably needs to be chucked. I've been watching hoarders on netflix, I don't even want to ever be like any of those homes, so I am trying to Work on clutter collector spots, most the livable home is open and fairly clutter free with a few exceptions, but i don't even like clutter in the places i rarely go these days, Someone motivate me!
post #69 of 122
10/20/10 at 6:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by doubledutch View Post
theoretica, yay! i bet it felt good to let that stuff go.

i'm doing the 20/20 home cure (apartment therapy) - it's 20 minutes a day for 20 days. i like it because i like having a clear assignment. today is only day three.

i'm doing pretty well keeping up with my house, but there are a couple of decluttering and deep cleaning projects i want to do. on week nights, i only have time and energy to do my daily stuff and i usually then go to bed with my kids (or if i get back out of bed, it's only to take a bath and then go to sleep). weekends are when i get down to business on the big projects, but our weekends have been insanely busy lately and that's not going to change in the near future. i feel like i just need to force myself to stay up until midnight one of these nights - that would give me 3+ hours to work kid-free. i will be tired the next day, but it would be soooooooo worth it!

geargirl, we need you!
I hate cleaning if dh or ds is sleeping, i don't like making noise, i know i shouldn't care, but i rarely stay up late to clean, but if i get up 1 hour or so earlier than them sometimes i'll do some quiet cleaning, like folding laundry or sweeping or something, but i suppose going through a few of the boxes in the closet is not really noisy since neither of them are in that room. I will try to do that sometime when i am awake and no one else is.
post #70 of 122
10/20/10 at 6:46pm
I was reminded of this thread when I dropped off a bag of dd's old clothes today in the donation bin. (Lucky for me, there's one just a block from my home and I walk past all the time.)
I looked at the Apartment THerapy site and it seems very do-able! Not at all intimidating! I think I might join in and try to direct some of my not-very-effective nesting efforts.
post #71 of 122
10/20/10 at 7:01pm
my kids are heavy sleepers so i don't need to worry about waking them up. no man to worry about. actually, when stbx was around, i couldn't get ANYTHING done if he was home/awake!! i did the bulk of my housework from 7am to noon saturday & sunday while his lazy ass slept in. i used to resent him sleeping in, until i realized how pleasant and productive my weekend mornings were - so i would turn on my favorite music and bust it out!

i always *want* to get up early and do housework while my kid sleep, but once it's actually time to get up, i don't feel like it. or it seems like the house is too quiet - i think my kids are lighter sleepers as it gets close to their wake-up time, too, and if they wake up then they will be crabby. bleh!
post #72 of 122
10/20/10 at 7:03pm
I do my best cleaning when DH can get the Littles out of the house and the big kids and I can get productive. I'm trying to get him to do that again, he used to do it once a week and it really helped me.

I do really think there's that guilt of letting go of the crap I shouldn't have acquired in the first place. So we need some guilt absolution in a bottle or something, that'll help
post #73 of 122
10/21/10 at 2:29pm
i like the concept that the mistake happened at the point of acquisition. it already happened! you have nothing to feel guilty about when you correct the mistake and let it go. actually, in a sense, you continue making the mistake every day that you hang on to the item.
post #74 of 122
10/21/10 at 4:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by doubledutch View Post
i like the concept that the mistake happened at the point of acquisition. it already happened! you have nothing to feel guilty about when you correct the mistake and let it go. actually, in a sense, you continue making the mistake every day that you hang on to the item.
I love this! This thread is so helpful to me.
post #75 of 122
10/21/10 at 8:58pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by doubledutch View Post
i like the concept that the mistake happened at the point of acquisition. it already happened! you have nothing to feel guilty about when you correct the mistake and let it go. actually, in a sense, you continue making the mistake every day that you hang on to the item.
Good way to think about it.
post #76 of 122
10/22/10 at 3:49am
it's crayfish wisdom, at least the first part.
post #77 of 122
10/22/10 at 4:20am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Theoretica View Post
I'm bumping this...where's our motivator?? Cmon GearGirl, keep us going
Maybe she took up my suggestion and is busy writing a book!
post #78 of 122
10/22/10 at 3:53pm
I NEED this thread:
I'm a practitioner of the "broom method" and the "pile method". This is where I arrive at my breaking point, grab the broom, and sweep everything that is laying around- dirty clothes, garbage, toys, etc, into one huge pile. Then it gets sorted through. Dirty clothes go in the pile in the hallway for dirty clothes.
Toys go into the toy pile. Everything that doesn't have a home goes into the pile for things that don't have a home. And then I go sit in a corner, and twitch, uncontrollably.

I have to admit, it's not working all that well. Looking forward to hearing more of these wonderful, revolutionary ideas of yours!
post #79 of 122
10/22/10 at 4:59pm
What about those odd, random things that don't have a specific place? What then? I do GREAT with categorizing, but these damned little things that have importance yet not enough to have their own PLACE...GRRRR!!!

Any ideas?
post #80 of 122
10/22/10 at 5:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Theoretica View Post
What about those odd, random things that don't have a specific place? What then? I do GREAT with categorizing, but these damned little things that have importance yet not enough to have their own PLACE...GRRRR!!!

Any ideas?
such as?
Mothering › Mothering Discussion Forums › Natural Family Living › The Mindful Home › Decluttering, Organizing, & Simplifying › Messy Moms help thread (dads and others too!)