Out with it, not in!

The second week of my 40 day de-clutter.
Not quite as much of a breeze as the first week mainly due to the unregulated hoarding tendencies of my children.
Clearing out is in itself relatively easy once you set your mind in gear and body in action, it's the children's inability to 'let go' of belongings that seems to be scuppering plans.
I get the novelty factor of the exercise. Clearing out means rediscovering things you never knew you had and things long since forgotten about. In someways I guess it feels like Christmas! But then there's the discovery of having grown and clothing that no longer fits. Trying to convince the younger children especially, that it's a lovely act to pass on unwanted or ill fitting items is painful to say the least. I've been spending the past week trying to smuggle out stuff to avoid the upset and and arguments but is that right?
Then there are the vast numbers of cardboard box buildings that are scattered around the place. A home for a teddy, a bed for Rara (that's Small Boy's comforter), a castle for the Playmobil people - the list goes on.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not against the use of such things, in fact I quite openly encourage it. recycling and all that, but there does come a time when it becomes apparent that such constructions are taking over or have seen better days. It's not always easy to crush and inconspicuously disguise a cardboard city in the council waste boxes.
So two weeks in and the house doesn't actually look that much tidier. Certainly areas are less cluttered and the contents of my cupboards are looking orderly for once, but in general I seem to have created more mess by forming piles everywhere of things to be re-homed, things to be recycled and things to be put away within our home. Uuurrrrrggggghhh!

Today I have been gathering together some of my many 'throw out's' for the local community swap shop that is running tomorrow. The sheer frustration of the matter when the children catch on and start unpacking my bags and reclaiming things.....

The temptation is there to give up!!!!

On the plus side.... I'm feeling somewhat liberated. I can easily find things in the cupboards and drawers, I have sorted my email box and now have under 1000 emails so my computer is working faster and the feeling of having passed stuff on that others can make good use of is wonderful :-)

I suppose with so much clutter lifted there will be space both physically, mentally and emotionally for more of the desirable things in life :-) :-) :-) :-)