Minimalism Challenge 5
I can't believe I forgot to mention one of the most important things that living more like a minimalist will be helping me with:
Spending more time with my kids.
There have been many times over the years that the kids have said, "Will you come outside and play", and I had to say, "No I'm sorry, I have so much housework to do...it'll have to wait till later." I would feel guilty and would wish that I could go play with them, but the amount of work that had to be done couldn't be ignored, or it would have accumulated even more.
I do play with the kids, but it's just not nearly as much as I could be if I didn't have so much housework to be done all of the time. Most of the work is unnecessary, because it is managing things that we just don't need or care about.
With that said, here is a picture of the load of junk that we got rid of yesterday....this may look like just trash because it's in the hefty sacks, but it is full of nice books, clothes, pots and pans, toys, etc that we don't need anymore and hope will make someone else very happy.
There are about 15-17 full bags in this truck load, along with some other random things and some plastic bins full of books...and to think of all of the stuff we still haven't managed to clear out! Wow. Still have a lot of work to do!
Today, I need to go into Bonnie's room and get everything that we don't need out of there. We did this with Caleb and Noah's bedroom two days ago. I'm surprised the kids don't put up a fuss about all of the stuff we're getting rid of. The boys room looks amazing, and Caleb actually came out and thanked James and me for making their room look so nice.
So my challenge for today is:
2 sacks of unnecessary things from Bonnie's room for giveaway, and any junk goes to the trash.
This will be enough of a job in itself. lol
Spending more time with my kids.
There have been many times over the years that the kids have said, "Will you come outside and play", and I had to say, "No I'm sorry, I have so much housework to do...it'll have to wait till later." I would feel guilty and would wish that I could go play with them, but the amount of work that had to be done couldn't be ignored, or it would have accumulated even more.
I do play with the kids, but it's just not nearly as much as I could be if I didn't have so much housework to be done all of the time. Most of the work is unnecessary, because it is managing things that we just don't need or care about.
With that said, here is a picture of the load of junk that we got rid of yesterday....this may look like just trash because it's in the hefty sacks, but it is full of nice books, clothes, pots and pans, toys, etc that we don't need anymore and hope will make someone else very happy.
There are about 15-17 full bags in this truck load, along with some other random things and some plastic bins full of books...and to think of all of the stuff we still haven't managed to clear out! Wow. Still have a lot of work to do!
Today, I need to go into Bonnie's room and get everything that we don't need out of there. We did this with Caleb and Noah's bedroom two days ago. I'm surprised the kids don't put up a fuss about all of the stuff we're getting rid of. The boys room looks amazing, and Caleb actually came out and thanked James and me for making their room look so nice.
So my challenge for today is:
2 sacks of unnecessary things from Bonnie's room for giveaway, and any junk goes to the trash.
This will be enough of a job in itself. lol
Thank you SOOO much Bethany for posting your minimalism challenges! I've convinced my husband that this is exactly the direction WE need to go into. Yesterday and the day before we hauled off several bags of clothing and books to Goodwill... he's hauled a LOT of garbage to the dump and I haven't even made a dent in our basement yet, but we're getting there. I want our children to understand that you don't need STUFF to make you happy. We're also going to be going frugal for Christmas too as well as 98% handmade gifts for the kids too.
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Wow, congratulations Jaclyn! I'm so happy that you've been able to do this...sounds like you got really busy!!
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Bethany, I am so proud of you! What you're doing reminds me of a book I just read called "Simplicity Parenting". In it, the author talks about how important it is to de-clutter. He states that the average child has 300+ toys in their room. I couldn't believe this and walked into my 5 year old's room. Embarassingly enough--he's right :/ Every single child whose room he's helped clear (with the parents) has been HAPPY with the change! The parents thought they'd object, but they don't! They are so happy to be able to see a few toys, rather than be at the bottom of an avalanche of toys they cannot use. Often, misbehavior / a sense of entitlement becomes prevalent in kids who spend time in a lot of clutter. Even if it's "well-intentioned" clutter, it still clutters their minds. I'm taking a page from your book and getting busy--and soon! Thanks for the inspiration
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I am going to have to look that book up, Lisa! I agree about the sense of entitlement...and you're so right about clutter 'cluttering our minds'. That's what it always does for me and I'm sure it's that way for my kids too.
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I'm so inspired by your posts on minimalism. Please do before and after pics for us!!
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Misty, I wish I had thought to do that with some of the rooms I've already done. Some of them were pretty embarrassing though LOL
I will try to find a way to take some before afters.
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That is great.You are doing so good!
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Thank you, Ms. Paradis!
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