Getting rid of one item a day thread number 14 – where we extract precious autumn leaves, rocks and twigs from our children

[stealthninjamummy]

Well I never thought I’d still be here, on the 14th thread where a bunch of mumsnetters get rid of one item a day while we slowly declutter and reorganise our houses.

It’s autumn and some of us have commented on our children’s beloved treasures that are coming in like conkers and precious twigs that have been named. This is the thread where we focus on sneaking these things out and getting the house ready for Christmas even if we don’t know what Christmas will be like this year.

New joiners are always welcome, just get rid of one item and let us know. We’ve all different issues and challenges and it’s nice to have a friendly chat with a fellow mumsnetter.

Previous thread here.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/housekeeping/4003927-Still-throwing-an-item-away-a-day-part-13?pg=1

And for 2020 some of us are also aiming to get rid of 2020 items!

Sorry to hear about the fish Raspberry

Outs here today: 1 pen that no longer worked, 1 pair of joggers with a hole in the knee. Also reorganised the treats cupboard in the kitchen & got rid of a few sticky old sweets & a large Quality Street tub. The whole cupboard looks a lot better.

Tomorrow is already looking good - 1 large carrier bag of clothes to go to Bags4school, 1 luggage trolley & 2 car sun shades to be collected. I'll also have most of the day sorting.

@stealthninjamummy putting everything back in the house/garage would probably be something that happened here but I'd love to give it a go.

Yesterday and today I've had no outs and a couple of in's - DD's last birthday present and the B&M velvet Santa sack for ds2.

Ds2's school bubble has burst so I'm not going anywhere apart from to do the school run with dd. So in theory I should be able to get a lot done...

Rip fishy!!! Swim free!!!

Two face masks out today. As dh and I are lying in bed using them.

Other than that nothing else gone.

@StrangeAddiction. Hmmm how old is ds2?

Woman never came for coat but got 6 sleepsuits out the garage to post tomorrow. Had a tidy in the kitchen and put some cardboard boxes out for recycling when there's room in the bin and also sorted out the box of junk so we papers in the bin.

My new plan is to bag up all the stuff that's needed but on the wrong place and then do a bag a day. I think if the surfaces are clear it'll be easier to see where stuff is going. I did it last year for Xmas and the bags were in the garage for months but tbf the twins were 2 weeks old and it was the only way to tidy 😂😂

November day 5 update: No decluttering today, unless you count finishing off a bar of fruit & nut chocolate during an online meeting (hurrah for the mute button so no one can tell that you’re eating). Hopefully I can get back to it tomorrow.

Today has to be a declutter of expired food. I hate food waste, and was trying to use up odds and ends, but I blundered a bit with the tesco delivery now that DS is away, and need to freeze what I can and put anything else that's not too wrinkly into a stew or a soup.

@SleepingStandingUp Ds2 is 10. Poor thing has been *banished to his room as both dh and I are high risk but so far he seems fine (both health wise and being in his room)

*For anyone worried we've locked him away from us - his door is open and we can talk/hear each other we're just trying to limit physical contact.

I'm currently lying on the settee trying to visualise what I can get rid of today when I can be arsed to stand up

Ah it makes it a bit easier at that age at least. I've agonised over what I'd do of i had to isolate as the 5 yo wouldn't understand and he's vulnerable and the babies favourite thing is those slobbery open mouth kisses only a mother could love 🤣

Fingers crossed someone is coming to buy a coat today and I have 6 sleepsuits to post. Slim chance of another item being sold.

DSs model of Poundland came back from school yesterday.... Is it too soon to bin it?? I suspect the space station that's been in the corner for a month is a good bet tho, and the frigging story or figures I lovingly made that he hasn't touched in months.

strangeaddiction the situation with ds2 sounds hard, I hope he / you are ok with living like that. I guess you have no choice.
sleepingstandingup I used to say stuff like ‘Oh dc, that painting / sculpture / model is so beautiful I bet Grandma would love to have it as a gift’. This is exmil who I frequently mention is a hoarder! Even last Christmas dd2 happily took Grandma this most hideous elephant made out of a milk bottle. I’m sure it has pride of place on her mantelpiece with many other pieces of ‘art’ made over the years.

A good morning. I wonder if people are either desperate to leave the house to buy something or desperate to give their kids something to do but I have had lots of interest in the toys I advertised yesterday. Let’s hope people actually turn up to buy them.

I am now running through my list. I have a few bits of admin to do then will spend another 30 minutes in the Room of Doom I’m intending to wrap a few presents from Santa and hide them. It’ll clear some of the floor in front of the Big Cupboard of Crap. Hopefully by about Tuesday the room will be clear enough that I can open the Big Cupboard of Crap, that’s going to be a big job.

Body moisturiser and deodourant used up. Also threw away a totally minging crusty travel sized toothpaste which was languishing in the bottom of my bag.

Emptied the car of junk. One small carrier bag of reciepts paper tissues and other assorted crap. Another bag with 7 dummies, some toys and a pair of ds’ undies (he’s three) a bits of missing Tupperware and dh’S missing water bottle. And around a fiver in change.

Win.

I ended up spending an hour in the Room of Doom and made it to the Big Cupboard of Crap.

As well as moving lots of stuff into the correct places in the house (eg stationery, decorating stuff, tools) I wrapped up about 15 xmas and birthday presents using lots of old scraps of paper and clearing the area in front of the Big Cupboad of Crap's door.

Outs include a broken biro and a big inflatable rabbit that I tried to deflate but accidentally broke.
I have also put a nightlight, magnetic sculpture thing, and dress up outfit into the charity shop bag. I found some old insurance paperwork that I think I can shred and a leaving card for a job from 2006. I hated that job and my I hated my colleagues (who thought it was ok to hire a stripper for someone's birthday in a pub) yet I am finding it hard to shred that card.

Isolating ds2 certainly feels strange and sort of goes against my maternal instincts to look after him even though we're at home and relatively safe (from COVID) and it the moment he's fine, he's just enjoying waving dd off to school, doing his work that's been set and going on his pc and talking to his school friends while they play Fortnite but to be honest there's not much else for him to do to pass the time stuck in one room. I would hate to have to isolate from younger children and even though I'm vulnerable I don't think I could if it was them that could potentially have it. It's just a shit situation for everyone

Sounds like you've done well @stealthninjamummy I'm loving "room of doom" and cupboard of crap

I'm about to get ds1 to put a few things in the loft and then I can start moving stuff that I've had stored in the upstairs bathroom that can be either chucked or kept.

Thanks strangeaddiction I once saw someone mention a Room of Doom in chat and wondered if I had created a mumsnet 'thing' like 'naice'.

I think it's fantastic that you're actually isolating your ds rather than just let him go out in the streets and play and think that if he's communicating with people on Fortnite then you are definitely not a bad mum, quite the opposite.

Sorry to read of the death of the fish and best wishes for good health for isolating DC.
I appreciate reading the successes as it encourages me to get on. Lockdown Day one outs were 9 newspapers.

Thank you for all of the fishy condolences. The most upset person was DH as he is chief fish keeper. We still have 6 so DC don't appear too bothered.

Hope your DS is doing OK StrangeAddiction, isolation isn't easy for anyone.

A few leftovers out to make a slightly bizarre lunch for DS and I of cauliflower cheese and cold chicken. Also decluttered the fruit bowl and have sliced up half a dozen sad looking apples to make a crumble for dinner.

I can identify with holding onto the leaving card Stealth, I have quite a few lurking from jobs I hated too. Not sure where they are but should definitely chuck them!

@stealthninjamummy I love hearing the room of doom updates.
Shred the card I say!

footprints I’m pretty horrified about the Room of Doom, at one point it was so full of furniture, paperwork, crap, toys that you could barely see the walls never mind the floor. Anyway I really want it clear while we’re in lockdown even if it’s crap is now in the sitting room behind a settee. Unbelievably I have a minimalist sitting room (no books or clutter, just one candle and a photo frame) unless you look behind the settee!

Out:

Pair of knickers
Sauce sachets
Receipts/papers
Disposable masks
A zip
A pack of refresher sweets
A couple of mint wurthers

@RaspberryBlonde I misread your post and thought you said your husband is upset as he's the chef. I had all sorts going through my head.

Day 49:
Coffee filter papers on freecycle.
Some duplicate spices combined to make room.
Next batch of ripened tomatoes used up in curry.

Still she hasn't come for the coat so it's going back to the garage but I sold a dress to post tomorrow. Also took the sleepsuits to the post office.

Emptied a box so threw away some recipes, bits of rubbish etc.
Will do my duty and finish off the wine.
Passed on a snuggle Pod to my friend

Good luck with your Ds's isolation @StrangeAddiction, it sounds like you are being very sensible about it.

Quite a good day of outs today:

• carrier bag of clothes to raise money for school
• 2 car sunshades
• 1 foldable trolley
• warning triangle for car
• pair of beach shoes

Mostly given away but some sold. Also listed some other bits & took stuff from the dining room up to our little spare room, so dining room looks less cluttered.

Also balanced this with reading my book , a walk with a friend & lunch at home with DH, so feel like it was a nice day.

November day 6 update: filed one piece of after school club paperwork before it got lost in the pile of paperwork in the dining room, and put away the pumpkin-style Halloween bucket until next year - it lives at the back of a corner kitchen cupboard that’s quite awkward to get to, but that doesn’t matter when it’s only used once a year!

I’ve found the last couple of days hard, so I’m hoping I’ll feel better at the weekend.

If only that were true @footprintsintheslow, I am very much the chef in our house!

Plan for today is to declutter the remaining red pepper plants, they are indoors but starting to look droopy even though when I looked the other day one had flowers on it! I'm also planning to have a quick look at the desk as paper is starting to creep back on after I took everything off to paint the room back in August.

Tidied the kitchen this morning, and I have a colossal bag of recycling to go out. Washing out recycling always ends up last on the kitchen chores list, so it's always building up. Hoping to get some more rubbish out of the hall too.