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!

I've given my friend two candles that I'll never burn, she passed on lots of clothes to us so it's also good karma.

Stuff put into the charity shop bag.
Some paperwork binned.

The clear all the surfaces into bags approach has worked, I've got a bag for the bathroom, one for DSs room and one for my stuff that requires more sorting.
Also DS agreed to us putting his train tracks in the garage as he doesn't play with them and I took the gold clubs out too.

Few more bags in here to go through and then hopefully I can sort the bag of my stuff.

A late entry for day 51:
DH has cleared out the goodies/jars cupboard obviously looking for something nice to snack on. It's all neat and tidy and some bits eaten and a pack of stale rice cakes gone. Well done DH and your insatiable snacking.

Nice that you have a DH who helps with the decluttering, footprints

November day 8 update. I threw away an old notebook which was full of to-do lists from a couple of years ago. I think I’d kept it after I’d filled it as it has plastic covers and I felt guilty throwing them out I tore the paper out to go in the recycling, and put the plastic front and back in the bin.

I also moved a couple of plant pots with daffodil bulbs in them from the back of the shelves in the dining room (left there after last spring) to the understairs cupboard, and put a reminder in my phone to re-pot them early next year.

I have a tip slot booked for tonight and a satisfying pile of stuff to go

@strangeaddiction that’s amazing. After your post I spent a couple of hours on youtube and google wondering if I could do something like that. My spindles are quite fancy which is why I haven’t painted them, I know it'll be drippy and I'll miss bits. I’m wondering if I could replace them but it still seems like a big job to do by myself. There are people who have just replaced wooden spindles with iron and made it look effortless with like easy to clip / screw in bits. I bet it’s not that easy.

I have decided to get rid of a mask that I wore to a masquerade ball about 20 years ago. It’s kind of sitting on top of a painting and it just reminds me of happier times with my exh so it’s going into the charity shop bag.

Last week’s weekly to do list seemed to work so I have retyped it and am starting now. Today is lots of admin and tidying so I’m hoping to find things as I go.

@SleepingStandingUp

Is it too early to put the kids in recycling?

Etsy. put the kids on Etsy.

you made them....

Haven't really caught up but have thrown a pair of jeans away - i wore them to paint the garden table bright pink and have paint spatters on them. i dyed them black again. but some of the paint didnt disappear. i now keep wearing them to work, or out out and then realising they have paint on them! so have binned.

also out this morning is a box of flea spot on treatment for cat face. the box was empty...so i'd obviously shoved it back in the drawer without thinking. i found it was i was looking for her new flea treatment stuff....

@ememem84 awesome point. And I make beautiful ones too.

Trying to get some more stuff listed on Vinted and FB - maternity bag today but my hand made matching set are yet to nap!

Hi. Just joining in. I have three willow tree figures that I don’t like but we’re my mums that I’m going to put on Facebook selling. And I finally put the telephone back on a table as it’s been on the floor the the past six months. I actually started my huge clear out in the first lockdown but still have much more to do.

Whew, well I culled some "what will I do with them" ornaments that DH kindly took from his office (long story, when we moved (12 years ago 0 we stored them there and I thought he had dumped them (I told him to dump any items I had not removed from the office store). I gave to charity and I dumped the non usable ones in the bin.

This morning I cleaned and tidied the small pantry cupboard we have - it is shocking how no one ever clears it out except me. It took an hour and a half to clear it all, sort food, dump and reorganise with new containers. But there is now room for more food (I was shocked at how many out of date and empty items my DC and DH put back in when they finish with them - it is as if none of them know how to use a bin.

Two very small outs so far today, both sentimental - a wedding photo of my DH putting the ring on my finger and the wrist tag I wore on the maternity ward. Hopefully I’ll add to this as the day goes on.

I’m keeping the baby wrist tag - not quite ready to let go of that one.

I spent 25 minutes in the Room of Doom (target is 30) and felt oddly emotional/ anxious so I’ll do an extra 5 mins tomorrow.

I finished emptying a box that I started emptying on Friday.

The following items are being thrown away/ donated to charity or recycled somehow. This boxing hasn’t been opened for about 12 years.

• 2 batteries
• 4 pens
• a computer part for a computer that died years ago
• 2 wires for razors belonging to ex
• a small bottle of Braun razor oil (also ex’s)
• a lanyard
• instructions for a fridgeFreezer, computer, printer, video player (all are long dead)
• old computer leads
• a small padlock
• a battery controlled sudoku game that still works
• 5 bottles of shampoo and conditioner

I also found some possibly useful stuff - notepad, a nice silver and gems necklace (as opposed to costume jewellery), old Nokia headphones that will hopefully work with a different phone, old phone chargers, a camera case. Most significantly some old memory sticks from my 4 megapixel camera of 2000. Ages ago I had a computer and backup drive die at the same time and managed to find a company to retrieve baby photos of dd1 but they couldn’t get some of my earlier photos. I’m hoping these memory sticks have some old ones although I won’t be too sad if they don’t.

I also throw away 4 a2 bits of art that dd2 had done for a display at school, in reception, except all the children did identical things and they were amazing so it was obviously the teaching assistant.

Welcome needssomethingtoread.

all the cardboard from the garage has been put out for recycling. i figured do it now so it can be picked up tomorrow - usually we forget the recycling as its such a faff.

good job @stealthninjamummy well done!

i've started filling the kitchen wall with the dc's art. its pretty but man its all a bit crap and the paint has that funny plasticky rubbery smell. halloween paintings will be ditched soon.

@stealthninjamummy sounds like you had a fantastically productive day.

I laughed at your teaching assistant art story. Last week I agonised over getting rid of our toddler homemade nhs window rainbow because it's so beautiful and then I thought that's because I did it and she mainly ate glitter. It's binned now.

@ememem84 we have a string and pegs up and it's great to have somewhere to stick the art up out of the way and the ditch it when you need more room.
I have a file to keep anything particularly skilful which I then date but I'm yet to find much. 😉

Thanks @ememem84 @footprintsintheslow I decided to do 5 more minutes in the Room of Doom and found a 1 year anniversary card and our wedding ring boxes which was tough but I did it. I emptied a box so I can put His Crap in it and put it in the garage. I also found a small Christmas tree and decided to donate that.

So it’s hard to quantify but I think I have bagged up / got rid of about 14 bags of crap from the Room of Doom since lockdown started. I can’t wait to get it out of the house

Welcome @Needsomethingtoread

Not much gone out again today but managed to have an hour or so sorting the dining room & toy box. Have rearranged them & tidied so they look better. Outs were: dead birthday flowers in bin, odds & ends of paper in recycling. I also started burning a scented candle I got last Christmas, hoping I will use it up by this Christmas.

Tough day here today. DS2's annual EHCP review, which I did on my own as DH was working. I always find these emotional & today we were talking about what kind of senior school he should go to (special or mainstream or mainstream with autism unit) which is a big thing for me. Silly really. Also finding it hard to adjust from DH being around all the time as unemployed & at home & now not being around at all during the day, so everything falls to me. Tonight he was supposed to be home at 6 but messaged me at 6.15 to ask if I would mind if he did a webinar relevant to his course. I could have done with having him home especially as I'm feeling emotional about DS2, but felt like I couldn't really say no So he probably won't be home till after DS2 & 3 bedtime.

Car boot full Of stuff gone. Books not shifting on FB but school will take them and I'm happy to donate as they were excellent for both my dc

@confusedofengland sounds like a very draining day. How did you make a decision about which school to opt for?

Day 52:
Lots of fridge use ups before tomorrow's shopping.
One pair of threadbare trousers from wardrobe to fabric bag as I couldn't fully part with them.
Emails and photos.

We haven't decided yet @footprintsintheslow, we can give our decision as late as summer term of Year 6 if we absolutely can't decide & still be guaranteed a place. He is Year 5. We're going to research different schools & their SEN policies.

Oh dear, I haven't been very productive with decluttering recently. Even worse with Flylady, I must start it again. I mostly declutter chocolate and tea. I got a charity bag through the door today and have put some clothes and a bag in it.

The to do list app is working well...for everything else. I'm decluttering tasks instead of things. I would recommend it for staying more organised and avoiding the I've got a million things to do but can't remember what.

I need to catch up on the thread for inspiration.

I finally got rid of some VHS 😳 they are things you can’t get on DVD but some are on Disney+ and the others are on YouTube. Also threw some cards away from a game, and chose some books to sell after lockdown.

@AlexTheLittleCat - tea and chocolate are my daily declutterings as well

@stealthninjamummy YouTube always make it look easy

My outs for today are:

An old football
A plastic plant pot
A sanding belt
The aforementioned tea and chocolate
Dh ate the last of the crunchy nut cornflakes so box and bag out
Wood out
I found a bag of charity shop donations under the stairs so I'll put it in the car ready for them re-opening.