Decluttering

We had a big gathering at our home recently, which involved at least six couples and over a dozen children. It was the “over a dozen children” part that led to some serious basement cleaning. The original intent was to have the get-together outside, but with a high of 102, the basement playroom seemed a bit more practical for at least some of the evening.

One corner of our basement seems to be “Wii central.” We have thirty-two Wii games (yes, I counted), which actually doesn’t bother me at all: they line up neatly in their boxes and sit nice and straight on a little built-in shelf. There’s something very “small” about them; even if there are thirty-two, they’re compact and contained. The issue is all our musical instruments.

My kids love, love, playing Rock Band. We started out with Beatles Rock Band and it seemed to grow from there; between the “Just Dance” series and the “Rock Band” series my children not only know who Tom Jones is but also know all the words to “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots” by the Flaming Lips. They’re a bit obsessed; especially my son, who would pick playing Rock Band over watching TV any day. And, consequently, we’ve got a problem.

We have one set of drums, two microphones, a “keyboard,” two Wii guitars, three (real) bass guitars, two (real) amps, and an acoustic guitar. And about a bajillion cords with each item. (That part may be a slight exaggeration….)

So when my husband cleaned up the basement, in the interest of keeping our “stuff” safe and making the basement more of a real play space for our visitors, he packed away all the instruments (and cords).

It’s amazing.

It is so beautiful down there, with nothing at all on the floor in front of the TV….just a basket for a few Wii accessories on the cedar chest and that’s it. I can’t even describe the difference it’s made in the room as a whole, to have all that stuff (especially the cords) packed up and put away. (I won’t talk about the difference it’s made in the unfinished part of the basement, where they’re being stored….I’m too busy looking at the lovely.) I’m trying to think, frantically trying to figure out a way that we can keep the corner looking that nice, even if we get out the instruments. What would it take? How could we make it work? How do we store these things where they’re usable, but not taking over?

I haven’t solved it yet. I need to think quickly….my son is going to want to play Rock Band at some point, and if I’m not careful, we’re going to have a new batch of cord spaghetti cooked up all over the basement floor. Again.

It’s been a busy few days, after a mostly quiet start to our summer. We’re starting to settle back into normal after a week of Vacation Bible School (meaning very late nights and sleeping-abnormally-late mornings for my kiddos). As I sat on the sofa recently I looked around and got the distinct impression that things had gotten a little out of control.

I sit and write about “pursuing enough,” and around me “enough” appears to be stealthily multiplying at night. The dining room table can’t be seen for the piles of legos and lego buckets. The library books have escaped their basket and appear to be on every single flat surface downstairs. My son’s steady stream of artwork and papers have crept from the kitchen counter to a small side table in the kitchen to the kitchen table to the dining room….My daughter’s goody bags from VBS have yet to be dealt with, migrating from her place at the table to the kitchen counter and back again. The worst part, for me, is that I ruined my beautifully clean laundry room closet with one bag of random junk culled from a drawer in my son’s room (I’ll deal with this later). That one bag will sprout tentacles and my closet will be unusable in a week; I know it.

I’ve spent my downtime this summer reading books like “Simple Country Wisdom” (charming) and “Simplicity Parenting” (amazing), and yet I currently seem to be back to drowning in the swamp of “stuff.”

Here’s the difference, though: I now know what to do about it.

I think, before, I would spend a lot of time procrastinating about what to do and how to do it because “it’s going to take forever.” Actually, it takes about fifteen minutes; or ten minutes, or five minutes–however long I want to devote to the problem. I set a timer and just do it–because even five minutes of uncluttering is an improvement. Five minutes gets all the library books rounded up and back where they belong. Five minutes gets all the papers gathered in a single stack (although admittedly it will take another ten to go through them). The dining table will be reclaimed eventually, ten minutes at a time. Some things the kids will help with, and some I’ll take care of myself….but it will get done. I just have to get up and do it.

On that note…..I guess it’s time to get to work.

Pursuing "enough"

Finding contentment in a "more is better" world

A beautiful basement

The slow spread of “stuff”