Minimizing Clutter

 May 15, 2024    

         I’m writing this blog so that I can help inspire others to do the same. One important thing with decluttering is to make it a priority, first and foremost. There will be some hangups along the way too which are included here.  

         I want to go back to January when I was really getting serious. In 2023,I tripped in my upper bedroom (there are two parts to the master bedroom) over clothes that were strewn everywhere, where I nearly poked my eyeball coming just 2inches or less from the dresser drawer from where I landed 😳. I knew I needed to focus on making my bedroom not just a living space that makes me and my husband happy, but also a SAFE area so we do not trip over unused items! 

       In January 2024, I started really going thru and sorting. So here’s the process I used. I already had one container with a pile of clothes to try on. If I had time I would go to it or when my schedule provided time.i also had a bag for donating and then a bag for poshmark to sell items that were never worn or look highly fashionable.

       I’m quite busy with being a mom, part-time work, volunteering with church bulletins, meeting with friends, picking up my son from sports… these also were things that make me happy, but I devote time to during the decluttering process of removing over 15 trash bags I have now donated in 5 months. 

        How did I achieve the removal of 15 trash bags, you may wonder. First of all, I tried to spend about 30 minutes to an hour when I made time or devoted myself to these heaps of clothes all over. One of those times I went through clothes and just could tell by looking at the item that it clearly does not fit me anymore, or if it’s something I would even currently wear that I feel looks trendy in 2024. The majority of it was a no. There were some of the tops I wished they did still fit, and were cute, although I did not like how it looked when I looked in my full-length mirror. I would tell myself “nope”.  I think it helped to obviously see that a woman like me who is now perimenopausal (during this time in life the body changes and weight adds to the belly!). It was disappointing to see how much my body changed, but these were clothes that I have had for several years now. This stage in my life also seemed to be a good time for me to remove and edit out those clothes that clearly I can’t fit into now with body changes. 

        I purchased a beautiful wardrobe that my husband helped put up in February. I really liked it- it fit perfectly where he installed it. He warned me they aren’t going to hold all that I think it can.  I also was excited I found a cool roll up hanging organizer  with clear holders that can hold my leggings, and hung it up on this new wardrobe.  

        I had a very scary experience too, which was traumatic during this whole decluttering process. I wouldn’t wish this on anybody! I had to shift a pile of some new clothes that just haven’t made space for before they went in the new wardrobe. I suddenly saw something gray… I was in horror to discover a dead baby mouse. Everyone was off to work or school so I couldn't ask my husband or 15 year old son to take it out. Crying and shaken up, (and I’m sure I was having an anxiety attack!), I went to get gloves and got that thing out asap. I was crying and my dog stared at me like “WHAT in the world is going on with you?” But I traumatically removed it.  This definitely made me open my eyes to keep clutter out and not let it get so bad as it had. 

        A couple weeks later, I was so disappointed! One section came down and the clothes were a mess all over again 😕. Funny, not funny -depends how you look at it.  Ugh! That felt like a setback, but the Taurus in me pushed ahead and went and worked on other clothes. We also had my keyboard sitting unplugged just SITTING.  Also, it’s now end of March and I’m like “Yikes! , we have a family member coming soon to stay in our bedroom.” Praise God that I was so productive and got the worst of the mess I had tripped over just several months prior!  Looking back, I’m very proud of myself that I got my act together to make our safe haven actually safe just in time to allow someone to be able to walk through our bedroom safely. 

     Mid-April one evening my husband helped me as more space opened up and all my hard efforts have finally created even more space with all the sorting and donated bags removed that I accomplished.  I do have one bag of stuff to sell on Poshmark as well. I was really grateful I got the keyboard in its new space and it’s great where it is placed. It was so nice to see my keyboard have its own space that I didn’t sleep that great that night.  I also would like to recognize that watching “The Home Edit” also encouraged me and motivated me, giving me ideas on what to keep and remove.  Watching that show allowed me to see strategies so I could dwindle down the very excessive amounts I just needed to actively remove.  

    Now it is May, and I definitely can see more carpet. Around the end of April, I purchased some fabric storage containers for the winter clothes that are strewn everywhere. Our weather in Northern California has been so bipolar. One Saturday morning we had such stormy weather, and had a block of time that I also started going through older clothes hanging in my closet as well.  I really do have too many as you can tell! I used to feel so overwhelmed, but I see all of it in sections to work on now. 

     Because of the bipolar weather over the years (especially in the spring), it’s part of why I got into so much everywhere. But my last organizing work has been putting sweaters into the very affordable containers from Temu and can fit quite a bit into. I like that I can get to them in case we get a random, unusual weather change.  It’s amazing that I see so much more carpet since January. Oh and that wardrobe? The other section fell down in April, and I was so disappointed 😕. If the wardrobe poles had not fallen down, my room would be lookimg amazing so now I have those to figure out and hang less on the poles.

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   As you can tell, it’s still ongoing, but I appreciate how much I have achieved. I also bought a shoe rack and ottoman during all this, and put my cardigans I can wear throughout the year (when it’s cool in summer evenings or when I’m freezing inside places that crank AC) in an ottoman I purchased from Amazon.  I did a lot of this work on my own but I do want to recognize my husband had been helpful with all this and grateful he can be patient with me and his “good jobs” mean a lot to me. Find containers and affordable ones so you’re not feeling obligated to spend a whole lot. I enjoyed getting creative with containers, but that really was the best way to really help me get the whole craziness under control.  

    

Extended school year distance learning

Well, this is the first time I have done distance learning with my son. His ESY teacher had songs and teaching rhyming and blending and read alouds on Zoom calls.
The suggested activities were on Google classroom which on the first day of ESY, I was making things more complicated than necessary but learned how to utilize the provided acitivities to help Cody.
I’m not going to ramble on this, I just want to say when I was more flexible with my son’s readiness to learn it was easier to teach him. 😊
I enjoyed working with Cody at times as we laughed when he would choose the incorrect answer on some of his English Language Arts. When we played bubbles for physical movement he told me “that was fun.”  So I’m glad doing this was an overall positive experience for the both of us and his teacher was available by email and phone providing weekly check in’s.  I can’t say every day was smooth sailing as Cody would sometimes ignore me but when we did activities we both had fun.

         I would like to update more about my smart son, Cody who just turned 3 1/2 last weekend!! Lately his newest thing is- wearing a sock on his hand!  He's been doing this the past few weeks now, so my mom is going to make him- yes, a sock puppet!! haha! 
        Some more exciting updates he does is talking more often in sentences! During Christmastime, he went over to the fridge and said, "I want to drink juice." Then in the past week, Cody said, "I like to eat." and on a different day he said "I like to go play."  
        A few nights ago, we were reading Dr. Seuss Hop on Pop and he repeated the words "red" and "bed."  That was very exciting, and this afternoon when his brother got off the school bus Cody excitedly said "bus."    It's so awesome  to see he's doing so well and see him progress with his speech!!  Mommy, Daddy and his loved ones are so excited and blessed to watch him develop!  

  I noticed it's time for an update about Cody:

Cody started preschool at an inclusion preschool, Headstart, in August! He takes the school bus to and from school, too. This was a tough adjustment on Mommy at first. Mommy was sentimental about him taking the bus and going to school since he's definitely not a baby anymore!

He has amazed us with his social skills and his mobility. He learned to climb out of his crib in October, so Daddy had to take that out of the room and have Cody sleep in a toddler bed. 

Cody has also decided that it feels good to take his shirt off and his diaper when he is supposed to be taking a nap.  He also wishes he could be in Jeremy's karate class-- this was too cute, last week @ Kovar's, Cody was copying the kids doing different animals they act out during their running portion of the class and when they laid down like a dead bug, Cody was imitating and laying down on the carpet with his arms extended out like the other kids!  Cody also always makes sure he says "hi" to everyone in the room @ our  church and at Kovar's.  Everyone really enjoys him- he always makes sure everyone is included.  His first phrase he's said a couple times now is " I like this." The first time he said it, he yelled it!  We are so so proud and blessed at how well Cody is doing! 

 My Cody has turned 3 today! I'm amazed at how active he is- he practically runs, climbs onto everything & also does a great job at swimming in our pool!  He's a delightful, joyful little boy! He says about 25 words now, and imitates some words too like "again,", "Daddy" and "round and round." 
 He greets everyone when we go to  playgroup, church and Jeremy's karate lessons. He loves EVERYONE! He's sweet and loving to everyone and just loves people!  He also has a love for dogs-he's so happy when he's around a dog he can pet.  
 It seems hard to believe that he will be starting preschool next month!  I think he will do great, we have visited the inclusion preschool he will be attending ; he enjoys the library storytime & Sunday School, so I think he will enjoy it!  
Happy 3rd birthday Cody boy!! Your family loves you so much!

Time to do an update on my Cody  boy!  Cody's now 28 months old. About a month ago, he started walking!  He's amazing!  What's not so amazing is he's harder now that he's walking all over the house and getting more owies :(!    

He also is starting to sign more baby signs- his latest favorite is "drink." He signs it so much that I don't think he's actually thirsty once he's asked so many times!  He still loves to look at books and loves dancing too.  We are so proud of our little guy, we are so grateful for him in our lives. He's such a joy to have. In fact, yesterday Jeremy added at his preschool Thanksgiving party, that he was thankful for Cody :). That brought a big smile to this mommy.   

CodyJames: Cody at 23 months

CodyJames: Cody at 23 months:     It's just four weeks until Cody turns 2!  I am sad that he's growing up so fast but there are things I'd like to share about him since ...