Decluttering one thing a day part 10 - the countdown to a clutter free Christmas

[StealthNinjaMum]

It’s the 10th thread and we’re still here!

We’re a group of mumsnetters who aim to get rid of one thing a day to develop good habits and gradually declutter our lives.

Newbies are welcome, those of us who’ve been here for some time have all seen dramatic improvements in our homes, the way we organise ourselves and even mental health. So if you’re new just check in and update with your progress and join in the general chat about recycling, housework and ways to be organised.

Previous thread here.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/housekeeping/3711883-Decluttering-one-thing-a-day-Part-9?pg=1

Present for next door neighbours delivered. They are so good to us and the kiddos. 😊 when I was pregnant with dd and when I was on the early part of my mat leave Mr Neighbour did the bins for us, and did our garden if he was doing his and dh was working. So kind. He also did our “branchage” (trimming of our trees which hang over the parish roads) so we didn’t get fined.

No real decluttering today unless dust counts - did a really serious hoover this morning (edges, middles, picture rails, lampshades, stairs, all 3 floors etc) and had to empty the chamber 3 times !

I have scrubbed and cleaned and washed and brushed and been to Tesco for last bits and baked mince pies and had coffee with DM and I Am Done. About to cook pasta and sauce for DC's tea.

I can't do any more in advance of Christmas except ice the cake and change our bed tomorrow.

Used up a bag of frozen corn on cob and a rubber of munchy seeds with dinner. Seeds went on salad and the corn accompanies southern fried chicken and sweet potato fries.

Willow - Your day sounds like mine. My entire house (almost) is now clean, the laundry has all been done and dried, the groceries have been bought. I've stripped the beds today so just need to remake them and then that's me done.

My out today is a broken mug.

Happy Christmas everyone! Hope you all have a happy time! XXX

Thank you ememem and SandAndSea.

Absolutely won't be thinking about it this side of Christmas!

Last minute outs this evening - an empty bubble bath bottle, a finished scented candle jar and a tube of conditioner I cut the end off and comprehensively scraped before I declared it done!

Defender, were I you I'd a) ignore the spare bedroom until Christmas was out of the way and b) not buy any storage until you're clear what actually wants keeping. Also, check it all falls to you - to whom does the 205 interior belong? My DM has had to "persuade" my brother not to keep his spare bumper for the Toyota in her conservatory...

I was was on the last thread under a different user name but dropped off at the end. I was doing quite well then had an traumatic start to December including the loss of my beloved cat.

We have a new cat and it has brought lots of "ins" with it. She is very young and needs toys.

I've identified a couple of DD's tours to get outs tomorrow to make room for Christmas presents.

Looking forward to reading all the way through this thread and catching up with everyone.

@SheepSocks oh no poor dcat. I couldn’t imagine not having catface around. She’s my girl. I’ve said to dh that when she moves on I’m going to have her ashes made into a necklace

Advent calendars done. So they’re going out.

So sorry to read about your cat, Sheep. Good to have you back with us.

As I am clearly some sort of super mum ha! and both of my littlies are currently napping, I have emptied the airing cupboard and have done a quick sort through.

Beach towels and “travel” towels (those super skinny cotton ones) have been removed and put under our bed (ottoman bed - get one they’re fab). Towels I was given when I joined the gym have been relegated to the car - useful to have to dry me off after riding.

I’ve ditched a set of brushes cotton bedding (double bed size) we have a double in dds room but are going to get rid. So no need for Christmas bedding.

In airing cupboard there will be:

The kiddos towels (plus a free towel I got with a sanctuary gift bag which for some reason ds loves...)
About a million flannels (but these are used and washed - sticky kids...)
Two lovely fluffy white bath sheets
Two smaller white fluffy towels
Two fluffy grey bath sheets (on towel rail)
Two smaller grey towels
Two grey hand towels
Two white hand towels
Four sets of king size bedding all folded neatly in a pillowcase (we usually only have 2 in at any one time - but we’re using the Christmas bedding at the moment so our three regular ones plus one Christmas one are in there).
Spare bath mat.

Ds’ spare bedding is in a drawer in his room.
Dds will be in her room when I pop it in there.

Christmas has happened, and I’m feeling thoroughly overwhelmed by all the stuff that’s come into the house. Way too many gifts, which leaves me feeling quite ungrateful, and now I need to find the right place to donate it all to.

I'm the same Motherwol - I decluttered all the presents to family today but got loads in. I have reduced it to buying for kids only so that has been great - I said it to my siblings in October and it was well received. We all have children now so one less thing to organise.
I donated a lot of shower gels and lotions from sets to a homeless charity before Christmas and I donate books to a local charity shop that sells a lot of them.

It's tough when you feel like that, MotherWol, hope you can find a way round it.

We really pulled back on buying clutter this year - I've basically had to sit on DH for the last 3 weeks, and he's had The Fear and The Twitch something awful Monday and yesterday. But you know what? We got it right. Everyone had four presents from us, one from a mixture of siblings (they often club together), one from FIL and one from a godparent, and it was perfect. All the gifts will be used and appreciated and I don't have a houseful of tat. Tomorrow we take FIL his gifts from us. My family Christmas is Saturday and that should be similarly restrained.

Father Christmas judged it right too and everyone has been cheerful all day. And there was enough space in the house that we did not have to be on top of each other all the time.

That's entirely down to this thread and your encouragement to Get Stuff Out. Thank you so much and Merry Christmas! I'm going to bed.

TOTALLY know how you feel @MotherWol

I’m looking at the heap and mentally sorting it into “charity”, “regift” and “keep”. Which do you think is the biggest one?

Ps: good to see another Steeleye Span fan here @IWillWearTheGreenWillow

Merry Christmas everyone. Yesterday's visitors commented that the house was in much less chaos than when they came a year ago, so that's a winner! Yes, there are a few piles of homeless clutter than have temporarily moved into the bedroom to clear the dining table but they can be sorted. DP agreed to a few more outs (a useless dehumidifier and some random wood from a cupboard we can't remember) once the tip reopens. Happy with the presents in, and shamelessly regifting a few others tomorrow to the next set of family! Sadly my car is poorly so my wallet will also be decluttered shortly.

So. Much. Stuff. But I it looks a lot worse than it actually is. As in all toys are in massive boxes. We can pack some away etc.

I’ve boxes of toiletries which I’ll empty out into my big box. And we have a lot of chocolate.

Most people were sensible and bought the kiddos a few toys. Or toys which went with stuff they already have (new set of duplo for example). Fil and his gf brought round 4 massive bags of stuff. Sigh.

My mum really likes giving presents, so I try to just accept it gracefully and pass stuff on later, but it’s definitely tough.

On a side note, if anyone would like a copy of the Unf*ck Your Habitat book (www.unfuckyourhabitat.com), DM me. I got two copies, and I’ve already read it!

Not caught up on the whole thread yet, happy Boxing Day everyone. Am still about, but haven’t got rid of anything I don’t think, so haven’t posted.

I did watch some of that hoarders programme the other day while I emptied a box in order to Tetris the cupboard in our room so the door would shut. That poor man with the cockroaches!

However, I am looking at my room just now, and it’s heading that way - it looks like my student bedroom. So that’s my project for the next hour while I ignore everyone downstairs whining at daddy.

Happy Boxing Day! Cold, I can't remember, are you in a different time zone or are you really decluttering at 6.30am on Boxing Day?

willow I know!! Dm did helpfully buy both kiddos a toy basket each (with their names on it)

Most of the stuff from Fil is tat. They asked what they could get ds and I said we were getting more brio for his train or more duplo. Or books. But nope. Bags of tat which they picked up from the charity shop or elsewhere. A lot of it is broken or age inappropriate for ds. There’s a broken football they found on the beach jigsaw puzzles with bits missing. Etc (I had a sort through last night). I think the feeling was they were being generous giving him loads to unwrap. But it overwhelmed him and it took forever. And now I have to be the bad guy and get rid of it.

Luckily he’s 2 so he’s not going to remember I binned a load of stuff. That’s today’s job.

Morning all! Was shattered after yesterday....
Luckily most presents aren't clutter inducing apart from Lego but DD loves playing with it most days so that's fine. We seem to have a lot of stuff in the kitchen but it will get eaten over the next few days.

defender90 I think me and sandandsea have bought boxes in the past to store things in and then ended up keeping them more permanently so I'd advise caution.

Do you know roughly what's in your spare room? Is it stuff that you know can elsewhere and needs a new space? For example would it be more beneficial to tidy your loft and then move some of this stuff there in an organised, labelled way?

Welcome back sheepsocks your poor cat

ememem84 your airing cupboard sounds beautiful. When I first did mine I used to often just open it for no reason - just to enjoy the organisation! (Another thing I could never say in real life).

motherwol I get how you feel. I didn't buy my dc as much as usual but tried to make sure they were nice things (less plastic than usual, fewer presents bought in desperation) so they should have homes. Luckily (?) for me no-one got me any presents (just one from my boyfriend) so my ownership of stuff has not gone up.

ememem84that's just unbelievable about your films presents. Do they hoard and buy tat for themselves? It just gives you another job and when he's older you will end up unable to get rid of the stuff so quickly because he will obviously get attached to an old teddy with a dodgy stain on the stomach and only one arm! Can your dh talk to his dad about this?

Anyway I hope everyone had a good Christmas! I had a quiet one with the dc, a small amount of presents and far too much to eat - time to declutter a few lbs I think!

I managed to give a toy away to a friend on Xmas eve so other than yesterday have kept up the decluttering. Today I think we might go out for a walk which might lead to walking to the local shops, then we'll need to declutter some vouchers and cash given to dc so more stuff will come in!

I was up because children will persist in getting up between 4&5.
Any NY resolutions brewing? Mine is actually to do with looking after myself more, making time for that.

@StealthNinjaMum no. They don’t. This is why it’s even more annoying!! I think it’s a “we must show our love and make sure everyone sees us carting masses of toys for the gf’s”

The Ils are divorced and mil lives in nz. She spoiled ds when she came over - with clothes she bought in the winter sales there and took him out and spoiled him with her time and days out. She sent a puzzle, a summery hat and transferred dh some money.

We’ve managed to keep one full bag. But half of that is for age 5 and up. So I’m putting it in the loft. Who buys a 500 piece jogsaw puzzle for a 2 year old?!

Anyway. All toys have been de-boxed. All duplo has been put together. All brio/generic wooden train stuff put together.

All gift bags have been put together and will go in the loft with the Christmas stuff so we can use next year. All chocolate etc put together and up high so ds can’t see it.