The Toy Box Years: Purging

The Creators of the Toy Box Years

The creators of the Toy Box Years are my two beautiful daughters and wonderful, handsome soldier husband.

"Nani" (our oldest) is a 11 year old 6th grader who loves Taylor Swift, ballet, books, fashion designing and sewing. Ask her what she wants to be when she grows up and it changes daily to anything from "an artist" to "a teacher" to "a singer/dancer". Nani is also currently fighting a battle against brain cancer -- recently diagnosed in June 2016.

"Nudgie" (our youngest) is a very smiley, very happy, very giggly, very spirited 8 year old 3rd Grader who's favorite toys are anything that gives mommy an anxiety attack - ladders, stepstools, the climbing wall at the playground. Like her sister, she has a love of reading and coloring, loves gymnastics and still provides mommy lots of snuggle time!

"My Marine" is my high school sweetheart. We've been married over 20 years and met when we were 17. (You do the math....) His favorite toys are Blackhawk helicopters, the lawnmower, our steam cleaner, and microbrew beer bottles. My husband is also my hero in that he proudly serves his country as a Blackhawk crew chief (hence his favorite toy!). And need I say that there is nothing hotter than my man in uniform!

All About Me......

Once upon a time I had a career and worked in the corporate world. Once upon a time, I dreamed about leaving that all behind to follow my true calling -- being a wife and mommy.

The first part of my calling was fulfilled in 1995 when I married my Marine (now soldier) and my love. Little did I know that being a military wife would change me in so many ways and that because of that, I would have an extended family all over the world from Japan, to California, to North Carolina.

The second part of my calling took a little doing, but I finally achieved that dream in 2004 with the birth of our first child, followed 4 years later by her baby sister.

So now, when someone asks me what I do for a living - I simply smile and say proudly that I'm following my calling - I'm a mommy and a wife -- and I couldn't be HAPPIER -- I'm living in the Toy Box Years!!

The New Year always brings a flurry of cleaning here in my house. It starts with taking down the Christmas tree and reclaiming the girls' play area. Then I slowly begin to move through the rest of the house. It normally takes me until the end of January, but it always feels good afterwards.

After taking down the tree, I went through the girls' play area - every single corner. I purged toys that weren't played with, craft supplies that weren't used, crayons that were broken, markers that didn't have caps and were dried out, and books that weren't read. By the time I was done, I had three full trash bags. One was for the trash and the other two were for Freecycle.

From there I moved into the storage closet in our family room. It's where we store our board games, linens for our pull-out couch, some of my crafts, memorabilia, and Nudgie's Tot School supplies. It was a mess -- a disaster -- a dumping ground. Again -- after a full day of purging, it's all nice and organized.

I felt cleansed. And I was just getting started.

Nothing was safe.

Our DVD collection.......half of it's gone.

Our CD collection.....alphabetized and consolidated.

Next up was my computer files. I went through all the blogs that I "follow" and scaled those down. I had over 300 blogs on my follow list. Realistically, I wasn't reading all of them. I read a lot of blogs through Facebook now, so if you have a Facebook page, I'm probably following you.

I still have a ways to go. The big project is the laundry room - where I store my eBay stuff and more craft stuff. It's an avalanche just waiting to crush a small child - or one hapless mommy.

I have to say that it really feels good to get rid of all that extra STUFF!!

How about you? Are you purging anything from your life?

8 comments:

Semalee January 24, 2011 at 5:45 AM: I'm purging too through our Making our Homes Like Heaven and it's really a good feeling! I couldn't believe all the stuff I took out of my closet last week, and I know that half the problem in my house is not that it's too small (which it kind of is), but more that I have too much stuff! That's my goal this year, to get rid of the extra stuff that is only weighing us down...

Semalee @ Nailing Jello to a Tree
Camp Isaac Mama January 24, 2011 at 9:12 AM: I usually purge before Christmas, because I know the holiday will bring a heap of new toys and clothes!

I probably got rid of 1/4 of the kids toys and clothes through October, November, and December.

I have a hard time getting rid of stuff for some reason, and I fight with myself while I'm doing it, but I always feel soooo much better when it's done!
MaryAnne January 24, 2011 at 10:22 AM: I just put together one box and two bags of stuff for a local charity to pick up. And I'm hoping to come up with more stuff before they actually show up on Wednesday!

Getting rid of stuff always makes me happy - especially since it means less to clean! =)
Christy Killoran January 24, 2011 at 1:18 PM: You are doing great!!! I have to do this, but first I have to get through morning sickness. I have no energy right now!
Natalie PlanetSmarty January 24, 2011 at 2:59 PM: My husband and I decided to have one "decluttering day" every week - Thursday night. So far it's going well, and it feels good to see more space on our shelves and more peace in the house since both of us decide what to keep and what to toss. We mostly covered our guestroom - office is next!
Tracey M. January 25, 2011 at 12:32 PM: I am doing like you...going through the house one room at a time. Looking at what's just clutter and extra things I don't really need but just hanging onto. Then I want to see what items I can give away that will be a blessing to others. It is so wonderful to clear out a pantry or see my cupboards again in the kitchen. Brings such relief.
LucieP January 25, 2011 at 1:59 PM: I need help purging. I don't feel like I can do it when my kids are awake- and by the time the last one is asleep, I am too.

One day.

Good job chica!!
Tashmica January 26, 2011 at 5:49 PM: I did the same thing with my blog reading list. I wanted to really focus on the ones i enjoyed. It's a great feeling to pull up the list and find exactly what I want. The house...hmmm, maybe next year :)