Useless stuff. It’s all over our house. Everywhere. In every room. Tucked away in every corner. Stuffed in every drawer or bin we have here in the house. Stuff that we bought the kids. Some are souvenirs from places we’ve visited. Other stuff is just junk we’ve collected over the years. And most of it is crap I bought in the dollar section of Target. Man, they’re good at placing that section in the very front, right when you walk in. Damn it.
Why do we do it? Why do we buy useless, plastic crap? Crap that they will play with maybe once or twice. Crap that breaks way too easily. Stuff that you know while you are paying for it that you shouldn’t be buying it. Stuff that’s just going to accumulate and, when you find it later, will just annoy you. And when you do find it, your kid will suddenly remember it, and want to play with it immediately and will wonder how he/she got along without it for those three or four months it went missing. . under your bed, in the hall closet, in the garage. . wherever. And then your kid will hold on to it for a total of 10-15 minutes and will lose it again. Only to be found six months later. . by YOU.
I’m putting my foot down. No more useless junk in this house. No more. No more until. . . your sister’s family comes into town and you visit all the touristy things in the city and end up with a grocery bag full of more useless junk.
Anyone want a kid-sized Space Needle cup filled with 50 million gum balls and a straw as tall as your 5 year old kid? Gum balls that you did not allow your kid to eat so you promptly put them in a gallon sized ziploc bag . . . which you have misplaced and will probably find in six months. Anyone?
This is exactly why I am in the middle of a huge whole house decluttering project! We have too much junk. We are getting rid of all of it – and not buying anymore! 🙂
Stephanie, that sounds fantastic! I must de-clutter too!! I’ll have to do it when my oldest is at school. . if she sees me tossing or bagging some of this stuff, she will become very upset! 🙂 But seriously, why do we as moms do this? I have to remind myself that all this stuff adds up and could be invested in something better!
Last year, I started collecting their cheap toys and gave them out at halloween — all the dollar toys, happy meal toys, carnival toys, even some better toys that they simply don’t play with anymore. i’m continuing the practice this halloween!
OMG, that’s a GREAT idea! love that!