5 THINGS I LEARNT CLEANING OUT MY PARENTS' STUFF

Working along with other family members, cleaning out my parents' stuff several years ago brings back memories. It has made me more vigilant of what to do with my stuff.

1. Be prepared to discover things about your parents you did not know. When I helped with my mother-in-law's stuff I discovered she loved slips and had two drawers full of slips. My mother saved her bottom denture plate in her button box. My dad wrote love poems to my mother. There were many unfinished projects.

2. Important documents can be anywhere in the house. My mother's birth certificate was in her sewing area. Her marriage license in another drawer. So remembering to cluster important documents in one place for heirs is a must. Make sure all tins and envelopes are checked. Found the wills in the kitchen cupboard in a tin. There was pockets of bills and change in the house.

3. No one wanted the clothes, the books and many sundry items. So trips to charities with things  by one family member was ongoing.

4. Divide up the jewellery as many ways as there are children. Thus the grandchildren will have a chance to have someone from their Nana. Keep some knickknacks as there may be an interest at a future time. I kept a cup and saucer for all the girls in the family. Something from Nana.

5. Know it is emotional. So do it in small pieces. If things like letters need to be read, put them aside for another day. Some things can be kept or discarded later. Not necessary to eliminate a person's life in one go.

The major component I learnt was to give away stuff now, liquidate any collections or assets, work in small doses as your own stuff can have emotional attachments too.
#givingawayparents'ssuff#reflectivethoughtsbybarbara#organizingsomeone'sstuff#importantdocumentscanbeanywhere#putyourwillsandotherdocumentsinasafeplace#findnewhomesforclothesandbooks#jewellerybelongstothewholefamily#whatwouldNanahavewanted

IS IT A NEW TREND- THE DECLUTTER CRAZE!!

With several books and philosophies on decluttering, it seems the word is in our face constantly. As a senior, the need to downsize eventually and well rid myself of my stuff. Well some of it. What is wrong with having some stuff??
For example, I love books and have lots of them. Over the years, I have weeded books from my collection. Sold some. Donated some. So I do not have every book I have ever owned. My children left me their books that I hope one day they will claim. You know what happens. The minute I give them away they will want them.
I have given away clothes regularly. My garage is neater and a constant job in process. I take stuff from the house. Let it sit in the garage. Then decide- sell, donate or to the curb.
Many pieces of furniture are marked for donations when it is time to move.
I love the emphasis on perfectly organized drawers and closets. Nice in magazines but not very realistic in real time.
If one lives alone, no problem. Once a spouse, children or in-laws it becomes harder to maintain.
Beside does being an obsessive neat freak, mean you are better organized than someone that may have a little mess. Is creative time wasted in organizing and being neat? Probably!!
For me to do any project means there must be a creative space. Not the whole house but contained in a room or two.
No matter how neat or messy my house is, I always know where everything can be found. My clothes are colour coordinated. A room has a label. My computer room. My craft room. The dining room. The living room is now the play area when the grandchildren come over. The family room is Adolph's room. Items go back to the room where they belong.
Trying to go digital with family history and some photos. But even the digital world can have too many files and stuff. Do we need 10,000 photos on our computers? Or all our pictures in our cell phones.
As a clinician, it is a fact that stuff has an emotional connection. If things help maintain good mental health, is it a bad thing? Things are a visual way of assessing what we have accomplished.
What can be wrong with being sentimental about some items? Memorabilia from a trip brings back memories. Again containment is the key word for me. Books for example can be contained to a number of shelves. If overflow, then time to weed.
There are collections in people's home. Not hoarding but collecting. Art. Pottery. Items of personal interest. Art galleries and museums are full of collections too. We do not ask them to declutter!!
So how do you consider how your process of decluttering is going? Do you like your stuff? All of it or just some of it??
#decluttering#reflectivethoughtsbybarbara#emotionalattachmenttostuff#booksondecluttering#theprocessofdealingwiththemess#organizingversusobsessiveneatness

SPRING CLEANING 2017

There are so many sites informing us about decluttering and spring cleaning. Some go room by room or select a category like clothes and go for it.
Knowing what to keep and what to give away or try to sell takes time. So when there is time in the busy schedule get started. I saw how some people had cleaned their whole house. I could not do that in one weekend. But starting with a drawer, a closet, a room is a good start. I have also learnt over the years to keep some areas clutter free. One or two junk drawers are okay but not every drawer in every room. Seasons keep us focused. For me a change of closet in Fall and Spring. Warm and cold weather clothes with some used for both.
My daughter Sonya has an amazing blog for young parents. She did a post on cleaning and safety in the home. Try it out.
Sonya Kerr
If you can not link then just google her or House of Kerrs.
#sonyakerr#parenting#modernmother#modernfamily

FEBRUARY THE SHORT MONTH ENDING

February always seems like the last month of winter. But as all Canadians know March can be as varied with warm and cold weather, rain and snow, wear your boots-wear your runners! For this busy trying to reorganize my life's stuff person, it has been too short. Decluttering and trying to decide what to keep and what to sell, give away, throw away is an arduous job and it seems never ending. Besides I have been questioning myself- why did you save this Barb? As a "crafter" for decades, little things can be reused often. There is a wonderful website- HomeTalk- where people use old stuff and remake new things all the time. Lots of ideas but not for me right now. It is great to see  stuff that gets saved can have a new life. Most of us worry about becoming "hoarders" so filter our stuff often so there are rooms with bare spots and well neatness- if that is a word. I keep a bag of "scraps" and misc items for the grandchildren to use in crafts! So a month with some activity, no flu bug, Adolph recovering well from his January hospital stay, some movies, good eating and some fun and well thinking about working harder inside in March. As all gardeners know April is that devil of a month with the garden calling for cleanup and well work! But for the clutter, yeah some may make it to the curb and save a trip elsewhere. I always like it when I do not have to drag stuff anywhere but the curb! But put your heart into anything and lots of good things happen!

                                                            With love, Barb!

OCTOBER-PREPARING FOR THE FALL

With Thanksgiving fast approaching, the house and grounds need a cleanup. Summer months let us relax so the corners acquire some clutter. Feels good to go around a home and just keep cleaning and decluttering. Items to the curb next week, some to the recycling depot and some organized to sell as collectibles. Some of my earlier stuff is now vintage! The first room organized is the dining room where the Thanksgiving feast will occur. Like other women, by the time we all sit down, everything will look so good that it seems like a piece of cake- no real effort. But a well planned event takes some work and organization. So when you all head out to homes that host the feast, remember to thank the host and hostess. It is more than just a meal. The home needed hours of preparation. Besides the special event is for special people like you!

JANUARY COMING TO A CLOSE

Last working Friday of the month means doing work statistics, finishing some reports and looking forward to the start of the short winter month. Even have a long weekend thrown into the mix. The beginning of the year with some people having resolutions that may have fallen by the wayside! Plugging away at the regular stuff has been my mantra. Some done and some in process. Trying to go in several directions which doesn't help with the energy or sleep! Decluttering! What can be said about all the stuff that has arrived over the years. Sorting collections! What to keep, what to sell and what to give away. Oh the Spring with the curb where some stuff goes and luckily gets picked by a passerby or two! Endings and beginnings are always time for reflection! Birthdays celebrated, recent movies seen,  photos ordered from the last six months and need to be sorted for families, scrap booking to be done, writing and craft projects on the go! Many people hoping the winter will fly by! Not me! Always a time to get the indoor activities done and fend off those winter blues with jobs completed! Cleaner cupboards! Neater rooms! If the grandchildren visit, time to play in the snow! January a good start with the hope more will get accomplished in February!

SNOWY DAYS ARE GOOD FOR INDOOR WORK

Watching the snow come down in large flakes is a pleasure to watch from indoors. Lots of light in the house to help with the sorting and organizing years of correspondence. What to keep, what to throw out? What may go to the family history binders or the photo albums. The winter months are great for these boring tasks. Hard to look at so much life in piles! Not really decluttering  as the stuff was well contained in Rubbermaid containers. Just too much of it! Too bad I am not a retired President! A museum is usually created to house all that stuff. But I promised my children I would not do to them what my folks did to us. I have to clean out my own stuff. So the snowy day is perfect to putter and putter and clean out some stuff! Reorganize and keep some! How do you use your snowy days?

TO DECLUTTER OR NOT TO DECLUTTER

Cleaning the corners of a house is very therapeutic. Pulling out stuff that has been unused for awhile to give to a new home  begins a decluttering process. Sometimes it is a garbage bag or put on the curb hoping someone would take it or giving to a charity. Getting one of those calls that "we will be in your neighbourhood' do you have anything.? Well I did and a huge pile of stuff from the garage is waiting by the front door. One of my girls wants to do a garage sale this summer so some of the "better stuff" was saved for that event. I have to help her anyway so might as well try to sell some of the things laying around. When I look at the pile on the front pathway, the realization sets in- how much stuff do I have? Well lots? We have been in our home for 27 years and counting. I promised my children I would not expect them to clean out my home the way I had to help clean out my parents' home. Assessing the real collectibles and finding the right market for them is rather fun. For example, my old LPs or vinyl records can be sold to one of the 16 stores in Toronto. Some of them could be $5.00 or even S50. Not here's a  box for $10.00 at some garage sale. With some of the internet options I now can label some stuff as vintage. A wedding gift from the 70s is vintage now- go figure! A neighbour is moving and has been cleaning out stuff to move. Interesting what goes to the curb. Each house has things that are used by the current buyer but when moving the decision to give away, sell or put to the curb can be rather mercenary! I even explore my home saying you will go and you will come to my stuff. There are old things we just use because we have them, aren't there? Like my 14 white plastic chairs strategically placed throughout my garden. 20 something years old! Well you get the picture, they will not be coming. The cute new little table with the modern weave chairs will be coming with me when I leave this house. I actually started going through the photo albums a few years ago when I did the 40th anniversary albums for us and the girls. Actually sent some photos to family and threw out stupid ones of people or events that did not matter anymore. Now with scanning and putting pictures in photobooks, a project of saving them to a different media is possible. But family albums with their history are a simple things to keep and often bring the most pleasure.  I am lucky because most of my antique and furniture items can be used for storage. Believe it or not, most of them are empty because this house has copious cupboard space.  The idea of changing and going somewhere else is often overwhelming for most people. My strategy is to plan and get to it methodically. As we consider where we want to live next, that is the most difficult decision. The second decision- how small can we go so there is comfort. Our area is rather pricey but to live close to the children and grandchildren it will be a price we have to pay. An hour away the housing prices come down. My thoughts are- just one place, one time. Giving stuff away helps with a review of one's life. What has the most meaning? Why did I keep this? Like the Ikea ad when the old lamp went to the curb with the sentimental music and the announcer said- it's just a lamp!! Better not to get sentimental about everything isn't it?