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!

Oh no that's a dilemma. Any risk of an"accident" happening to them??

Binned - one broken toy tractor

Two dead plants

Hope you got a good night's sleep on the new bed ememem!

As a few people up thread have said we are also hoping for a reduced crap Christmas. Being home so much this year has really highlighted that we have plenty of things. DC will be getting some toys but am going to try not to end up with presents for the sake of it.

Fairly large out today as we managed to donate a groundsheet thing to the local forest school. It was going to be for the tip as it was damaged, but they can still use it so it's a win win!

Sympathies for those of you feeling sleep deprived, mine are both OK now but were dreadful up until about 2 and there is nothing worse than life on two hours sleep!

With Christmas looming I braced myself to negotiate toy decluttering. Dd1 was surprisingly amenable, dd2 keeps having a quick play with everything I get out to go, which makes me feel guilty. She does lose interest again pretty quick though. I'm giving the Young Planet app a go, and hopefully a lady is coming to collect a Walker and a spinning ball thing tonight.

I would say my house has much much less clutter than a year ago so I don’t mind bringing new stuff in. And for the first time I have ‘finished’ rooms. It’s mainly presents for dc. Having said that I am mindful of plastic and so am tying to avoid that more than normal.

I didn’t do much yesterday- got rid of a holey top and a few bits of post. I was in the Room of Doom filing and generally trying to find a home for all the instructions we have that seem to live all around the house.

Today I threw away a food mixer box. It was in kitchen cupboard and I think I had thrown away the mixer that went with it ten years ago! I had put my new mixer in there but it seems pointless to keep an old box.

Today’s update. Spent 30 minutes in the Room of Doom. Spent most of it wrapping presents and mainly moved things around. I threw away a couple of animals made by dc and a puppet made with a spoon. I also found a couple of clay things dd1 made and a stained glass window. It seems a shame to throw them away and wasteful to the environment. I’ll ask dd1 what she thinks. Other than that the Room of Doom looks terrible. Piles of crap everywhere being sorted. Once more you can’t see the carpet but at least it’s progress and the stuff is being rehomed in some way.

Day 3
Recycling gone out
Some old baby bottle teats gone
3 baby bottles gone
4 out of date bottles of Aptimil found in back of cupboard (so annoyed at myself for this, I hate throwing out of date things, it feels so wasteful)
A baby book of photos to my nan and a cardy

Have filled a big charity bag full of clothes but charity shops not open, so have had to put in the garage so I'm not counting it yet

House looks appalling with me attempting to sort things. Head banging which is so not helping

Just remembered...
Moses basket mattress
Game with missing pieces

Didn't think I'd throw much today, but I did wort two bags of stuff for DSs room that had accumulated downstairs. Ended up throwing a sensory light with a dodgy wire so rarely works and DS has decided to scale back some posters and photos on his wall so posters in bin and photos in the memory box. Also threw out a carrier bags worth of random bits and rubbish from DSs bedroom so it looks tidier than it did.

Also, his underbed cupboard which DH was going to mend (for since before lockdown) is pit the room and ready to go outside whilst I work out how to dispose of it. I'm thinking of reusing the one board in our Great Fire of London art work. Anyway it looks better and then DS came in and declared he needed to check if there were monsters there now (in a very chilled manner).
One bag of stuff into the bathroom which I'll sort later and one back downstairs bit at least it's going in the right place.

Miaowse I hope it gets better soon, it must be very hard.

I sorted through some clothes and have a few things to go to charity shop/bag whenever it is possible and some for recycling. Need to work on the Room of Doom again, did a few minutes the other night and it is a little better.

thelastmullercorner It will get better, sorting is hard at the start as nowhere to put anything. It is overwhelming.

Day 55:

One swim jacket given out on a long term loan.
Four items stored in attic for near future use before they go for good.
One empty shoe box into recycling (only for toddlers to retrieve it). I'm getting that box tomorrow for sure.
Photos done
Emails done

Thank you @AlexTheLittleCat - he’s in double figures now and sleep has always been a problem so we’re very used to it.

I threw out some old receipts from a kitchen drawer - including a receipt for pillows I threw away a couple of years ago

November day 12 update: Instruction leaflet filed in the Useful Drawer, and an expired money-off voucher thrown in the bin. Developed a bad headache this afternoon, so couldn’t sort through the box of winter hats and scarves as planned.

Nothing out yet, but here for a bit of support. So the walker went yesterday, along with a bunch of small baby toys (rattles etc). I still feel awful about getting rid of the walker. It was a push along vtech one with the electronic panel on the front. Obviously now both kids can walk the push along bit was bulky and obsolete, but dd1 loved the panel bit until she was over 2. Dd2 started having a little play with it before it went and I felt so mean taking it away. I swear she looked sad when it vanished. She didn't touch the bloody thing in months before, they have other electronic toys, but I still feel like a monster. For what it's worth dd1 agreed to it going, I just feel inexplicably down for dd2. Someone please talk some sense into me

They do it on purpose.

Honestly, they do.

I'll pit q bah a toys aside to get rid of, hide it for 3 months, no one cares. Get it out and DS spots the toy that suddenly makes his life completed. So I let him keep it. 5 minutes later it's never touched again

And it's Christmas soon, they'll have a ton of new stuff.

Oh glumy I used to feel like that. In fact dd2 would see a toddler toy about to go and it would be her ‘favourite toy ever’ even when she was 8! It helped me to see toys and books as part of their development and unnecessary when they had got past that stage. So I found it hard getting rid of the picture books - and in fact I probably still have a couple - but dd2 now benefits from more advanced books.

I’m about to go through my weekly to do list —which I haven’t even looked at since Monday— but I’m fairly certain I’ve nearly finished everything on it. It’ll be more time spent in the Room of Doom.

My DD is just the same Glumy, and suspect DS will be too when he's a bit older. She refuses getting rid of anything including actual rubbish (she had a very precious sweet wrapper for ages until it sadly got 'lost'). The trick is definitely getting it out of the house without them seeing it again! Easier said than done at the moment.

This morning I binned a small squirty bottle that didn't squirt any more. It used to be in the changing bag but we are done with nappies now. I should probably get rid of the changing back too as I always hated it!

Congratulations to everyone on your progress!

I've been focusing on my son's old bedroom. Recycled tonnes of old paper: ancient medical receipts, bank statements, school stuff. Cleaned and reorganized the bookshelves and finally have room for my work-related stuff. Scraped blutack off the walls and put up a nicer mirror. I have an office where I can work or study away from the cluttered kitchen! Only 8 years after DS left for university! Why was I stuck for so long?

Making progress on living room as well. Down to one box of items to give away or sell. Going to give it a thorough scrub. It has filled me with despair between the cat peeing all over, the boxes and baskets, and the fact that I've no bookshelves or comfortable place to sit after I gave away my ancient Billys and wrecked sofa. And now the shops are shut! Looking online and on secondhand sites but really need to test-sit a sofa.

The kitchen has become the place where we not only eat, but work, study, hang the washing, watch films, browse the internet, feed and entertain the cats and keep the bike batteries charging. It's driving me nuts! Going to order DH and laptop into the living room this weekend. Washing to be dealt with upstairs.

@TheyAreMinerals could you look at something like Gumtree or Freecycle to get something functional and free/inexpensive short term and then relist it when you can go shopping?

Thanks Sleeping, Stealth and Raspberry, glad to know my DC aren't the only ones who do it. They really do have plenty of other stuff.

theyareminerals I assume your ds didn’t leave straight away, I bet he felt secure knowing he was welcome back and had a room. I agree that for a settee it’s best to test it, it must be so frustrating for you unable to buy one.

I have done my stint in the Room of Doom. I tipped out a small box that’s full of random stuff. Some is worth keeping like degree pass letter (although all my certificates are safely stashed away) and there are things like instructions for video games and CDs that need to be put back in their boxes. I am chucking out about four theatre programmes, some receipts, an old lightbulb, a letter from a friend and shredding three anniversary cards. And there were several notebooks, it seems I have an obsession with buying notepads we have never ending supplies of them!

No real outs today but I did bin the mail immediately so that's an improvement and my only in is a Christmas present and a MacDonalds Roy that's currently keeping him entertained. But I did shirt two bags of stuff that had homes

@GlumyGloomer don't be sad. It's just stuff and it means more to us than them

Day 56:
Photos and emails
One crochet doily in the charity bag.
Lots of frozen ingredients used up in a meal.

Thanks @AlexTheLittleCat

No real outs today other than the recycling

I've packaged up 7 parcels I've sold. I've got to package another one, tomorrow, which I know is in a suitcase of clothes. My job for tomorrow is to go through that and either list on ebay or put in the charity pile

November day 13 update: I spotted a proof of postage receipt on our notice board, which was from Feb 2017!!! It has gone in the bin. I’m hoping to do a bit more over the weekend than just one thing a day.

My daughter is similar, @GlumyGloomer - I had a talk with her recently about getting rid of her baby toys and making space for new toys, and in response she’s started playing with the baby toys again! I still have her walker (a similar one with an electronic panel), and she’s 5