The countdown to Christmas - but still decluttering one item a day. Thread number 15

[stealthninjamum]

Thread number 15 of the ‘declutter one item a day thread’ and this bunch of mumsnetters are still decluttering our houses slowly by getting rid of one item a day.

It’s always challenging at Christmas for declutterers, as we fill our house with more presents, food and children’s toys. This thread should give us a bit more accountability as we keep plugging away slowly while we making our homes more organised and decluttered.

Obviously Christmas won’t be the same this year and the stealthninjahousehold won’t be having any visitors but I’m still keen to spend the last couple of weeks making my house a nicer space to spend time in.

Newbies are always welcome. We just get rid of one item each day and report back on the thread.

Previous thread here.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/housekeeping/4053749-Getting-rid-of-one-item-a-day-thread-number-14-where-we-extract-precious-autumn-leaves-rocks-and-twigs-from-our-children?pg=1

[quote footprintsintheslow]@Pinksands1 I didn't realise minimalism has started. Hooray!!![/quote]
Will see if we already have acces to it here in Brazil! Sounds fun!

@ememem84 I know what you mean! They are my world, I would die for them, I would kill for them but for goodness sake all I would like is 5 mins with no demands so I can have a sneaky chocolate bar or even a wee in peace!
I have said to my husband that the first day that they are all in school I am going to sit down and just savour the peace

@Inthetropics

@Inthetropics wow! How did you get on with both those years?
I am a firm believer that you should only ever compete against yourself - I managed 1906 this year and am hoping that some accountability will assist in this next year being more successful (although every item out is a success!).

@Iceisnice I tried to declutter 5 - 6 items each day. Some days i just didn't have the time but compensated at weekends and when doings deep declutter. And i am ruthless, will only keep what i really use. I believe in the saying "Use it up, Wear it out,Make it do, or Do without". I am not a hardcore minimalist by any means, just want to use everything i have and donate what i don't.

@Iceisnice I had a lot of stuff and a very very big stash of toiletries (am not a makeup person but love shampoo and soap, just very simple stuff). I am still going through this stash. Won't have to buy shampoo for a few years! So i count whatever i use up from this stash.

Ugh so no trips to charity shops int god knows when as we just got T4'd. Anyone been hit by school closures ?

I have two charity shop bags which have been sitting around for ages so guess they'll be here for longer.
We're in London and primaries in our borough can go back next week. I have mixed feelings but will let DD go back assuming the school has enough staff as apparently several tested positive.....

Update, I got as far as taking the old clothes out of the draws and slinging them into a basket for sorting. Also washed some more of the new stuff. It fills me with dispare how little I achieve in a day at the moment. I dream of dd2 turning 2, at which point I shall stop killing myself to get her to nap and switch to encouraging her to last the day and then have a nice early bedtime. I just can't wait to get my evenings back.

@Inthetropics sounds like that was a really good method for you, I will try it out too. We have a lot of stuff in the house that we just don't use.
I went through my books (had over 70) last year and got rid of almost all of them. Now have 4 books including 1 from this Christmas and is something that I really wanted. I am finding that my mindset is changing due in part to my mother dying 2 years ago and unfortunately she was an accumulator. I had no idea how bad until it came to sort out her stuff.
We (my sister and I) did 3x sessions of approx 7 hours together and it took that long to clear her bed (of clothes, this is without the clothes that are in the cupboards and wardrobes) and her make up. We have ground to a halt (even before covid) because my dad doesn't want anything else to be sorted through.
The other reason is that my mil died earlier this year and although she didn't have tons of things she had a lot of unfinished projects that she just never got around to starting or completing.
I don't want my kids to have to deal with this stress when I have gone.

I’m going to try and do 2021 things in 2021. I think.

@Iceisnice ds just insisted I read him “5 minutes peace”. The irony was not lost on me.

@GlumyGloomer I thought my life was over when D stopped napping this summer. But now she is literally in bed and I'm walking out of her door at 6pm. Bloody fantastic, you will love it!

@Iceisnice gosh that sounds really tough on you, you e had a terribly hard time with such loss.

@Pinksands1 I was muddled earlier I thought a new series had started but but I've found the documentary about the minimalists so thanks for that. There's a new series starting on Friday.

Day 113:
🎄Old maternity letters recycled
🎄2020 calendar recycled
🎄More Christmas decorations snaffled away into the pile to go away.
🎄Emails and photos

@ememem84 that made me laugh!

@footprintsintheslow unfortunately we also lost my grandad at the end of November too. The hardest part with my mum is that it was completely unexpected (sepsis) and that my youngest DD was just 14 weeks old. But we got through it, if it wasn't for my girls I would probably have lost my mind but when you have no choice but to get up and keep on keeping on you find a way to get through it.
I am a strong believer that the universe never gives you more than you can handle, and if I keep on telling myself this than eventually it has to be true right?!
Ok down to business: outs for the last two days are 28 including broken Xmas lights, a train set, some junk modelling, socks that are too small and some very well worn jeans of mine. Ins are 7, a Moses basket, sheets, blankets, a baby carrier and a prep and perfect machine because baby number 3 was a complete surprise and we donated everything in January and found out about baby number 3 in July 🤭

Well it's my birthday tomorrow so there will be no outs so I'm going to stay afresh 1st. Garage was massively sorted over the summer but Def needs tidying again and probably before much else gets done. I fear it'll just be bags and bags of stuff to eventually get donated so night as well crack on selling the baby clothes in bits and pieces, I can do the post office as part of the school run although I struggle getting a double buggy in. I don't know how people in wheelchairs cope with how narrow everywhere is.

So that's my mission before DH returns to work, how or so a day in the cold garage.
There's also a ton of toys the babies would live but frankly without donating some we anyway have out, there's no blooming room!!

@footprintsintheslow ooh I didn't realise there was a series due to start. I'll look forward to that 😊

So it's the end of day 1 for me and obviously not enough stuff gone to make a noticeable difference but I have 16 outs today. I haven't worked on any specific area, just things that were bothering me or I noticed today. Things like worn out shoes, broken laundry basket, xmas decoration the dog had chewed etc etc.

I hope to be able to keep this kind of momentum for a long time. For a long time my head has felt chaotic and too crowded and I definitely think the state of my house being cluttered affects this. I often think back to mine and dh first bedsit we lived in when all we had was some clothes and a few books and now we have a whole house and shed full of things. Its enough to make me breathless! My aim with all this is to make it easier to live day to day and just enjoy time with my husband and children. Sorry for waffling, it's nice to be able to get it all out and try to create some calm headspace

Hope you have a great day tomorrow, sleepstandingup!

Welcome, new and returning people.

Today was recycling day, and in addition to the usual suspects, I went hunting for some extra boxes (we have far too many for 'just in case') and found two to go out. Also binned/recycled some fancy sweets and their packaging. They were a Christmas gift. I know the person went to a lot of trouble to send them, which made me want to hold onto them, but DH and I agreed that they tasted like dirt (that's not autocorrect). Didn't picture us eating any more of them or serving them to guests (not that we'll have guests anytime soon), so out they went.

Thanks unlimited. How sad about your dirty sweets 😭

Unlimited not hershi by any chance? A colleague once brought those back from a holiday and they languished for months, no one wanted to eat them.

Happy Birthday for tomorrow @SleepingStandingUp!

Today I went through things in box 3 again and put a pile of photos in the photo box (to sort through when I feel up to it), and put two crochet needles in with my craft stuff. Not as productive today, but I was out with DD in a freezing cold park for some of the afternoon as we met up with a friend.

Should have a couple of free hours tomorrow to tackle a couple of hot spots. I started writing a list of all the places in the house where I need to do decluttering, and realised it’s pretty much everywhere in the house But I hope I can keep the momentum going.

Second update from today: I finished using the soap in the bathroom, so I’ve now put the lovely handmade soap I got for Xmas in there. Pleased with myself for using it instead of keeping in ‘for later/ for best’ and glad I’ve reduced the pile of Xmas presents that need homes by one thing!

Found an unused cordless phone that can replace the present one that doesn't hold its charge long enough. The old phone can go in the toy box, so that's a sort-of declutter.

Binned a very old duvet cover that my foot went through at the weekend. Also two manky pillows not worth washing.

I hate Hershey chocolate. Eugh it tastes godawful.

My nephews in nz love it. (Although the nz brand Whittaker’s is far superior). I sent them some Cadbury’s selection boxes to show them what “proper” chocolate is! Haha.

Happy nye people!

@Iceisnice you've had such a traumatic time yet you are coping because like you said we have to. I've found that being forced to get up with a toddler does indeed make you carry on even on the days you think you just can't. Thank goodness for our children.
Is sepsis more common now or are we more aware of it. I seem to hear of it more and more abs I find it terrifying.

@SleepingStandingUp happy birthday, have a lovely day whatever you can do.
Also I'd love a double buggy but can't fit it through my front door.

Hello decluttering people new, old and returning and happy birthday @SleepingStandingUp.
Yesterday was pretty much a write off as DH wasn't feeling well so I had two children underfoot all day but managed to find an empty bottle of bathroom cleaner and a manky cloth that had been forgotten under the sink while they were having their baths.

Am jealous of those of you managing earlier bedtimes. This worked beautifully when DD dropped her nap. DS has mostly stopped napping now but all putting him to bed earlier achieves is a very long bedtime!

We're also in Bucks and was slightly surprised that primaries are reopening on schedule here. Mind it's still 4 days away so who knows!

Ugh, Hersheys. Our otherwise lovely friend who works in New York has a bad habit of brining them as a gift when they visit. I think we might still have some from last Xmas lurking in the back of a cupboard.