Throwing Sh*t away.

Lately, a lot of things that I hold to be self-defining have been flying right out the window.

• First, there's the whole "not a vegetarian anymore" thing.
• Then I've watched my control over my kids' diets slip out of my control and into the hands of whoever walks by holding something sugar-filled.
• I'm not gardening- I'm doing a CSA and super busy this summer so I'm really only tending my strawberries, herb garden, and rain garden.
• And I decided not to sign up for the next session of yoga bc I counted the classes I could attend and I'm too busy to justify the cost.

(I did mail in my application and deposit for yoga teacher classes! and I'm totally continuing home yoga and hope to pick up classes again in the fall. but to not be enrolled in classes feels like it's not me.)

But here's my new one to add to the list:

• I'm throwing stuff away.

Every single time I walk from one room to the other and especially from one floor to the other, I carry something with me that gets put back. So generally, stuff is accumulating throughout our house but I keep it moving around so that it's a very sneaky thing. I hate to have clutter and I always want to get rid of stuff unless it's very sentimental or very useful or very pretty. I put "very" in front of each bc Jeremiah will make a case for lots of stuff that would qualify as keepable, if it weren't for the "very" part.

When I get rid of stuff, I find lots of homes for things (in this order):

1. giving it to someone else, sometimes as a regift (what? so hate me for it. if you ever get two gifts in one gift bag from me, know that one of them is probably new and thoughtful and specialized for you, and that the other is a regift so that I don't have it in my house anymore)
2. Trash to Treasure. Such a great idea! We do this several times a year with my MOMS Club and anything that you consider "trash" that you bring and no one else takes it home as their "treasure" gets donated to charity.
3. Freecycle. Most of the toys that I give to my kids come from here. I stockpile all year to have a goldmine for Christmas and their birthdays! Come on! It's good, free, local, slightly used stuff! And I get rid of stuff this way too. I've got three things ready for pickup by other people tomorrow, as a matter of fact!
4. Goodwill and Salvation Army. There are very convenient drop-off centers for each here in Pasadena. I fill my trunk once every few months and take them a load! (and then go in the store and refill...)

Exceptions: Books, which all go to the Book Thing, which we totally adore and volunteer at and patronize once or twice each season. Furniture, which we stockpile around our house for our early 20-something siblings that we hope will move out of their parents' houses and use our leftover furniture, or survive on inflatable furniture and plastic storage tub furniture like we did! Kids Clothes, Baby Toys, and Baby Gear, which we store in rubber tubs in the basement for our unborn children and unborn nieces and to a lesser extent, nephews.

Ok, that's what I usually do.

But this week, sparked by house project fervor and bedroom rearrangements, I've been going through stuff and feeling like I need it out of here. NOW. With the urgency of final-days-of-pregnancy-nesting. There could be underlying psychological issues going on here because I'm not acting like myself.

Everyone who knows me knows that I keep things neat where I think we should, clean where they have to be, and let everything else as far as housecleaning go to hell. Always have, only now I can use parenthood as an excuse! But lately, the house has been so dirty it felt like the only logical option was arson.

So I've been throwing stuff away. Not reusing it. Nothing on the 4 point list above. Just pitching it in the trash. Like, say, 10 things so far. And my heart screams "Hypocrite" with each one! But stuff has started to get mildew or broken beyond repair. Or I've moved it around with the promise of finding another use for it so many times that it finally pissed me off and I just chucked it.

We all judge ourselves harsher than we would anyone else. But I talk so much talk about the three Rs that I doubt anyone else could be as much of a hypocrite as I am right now. I feel like if I can just purge it all really quickly this week, then I can be good again by next week! And no one except my blog followers will ever know!

worst moment of the day: This was the biggest meltdown of the day and so out of control that it had to become funny.

Best Moment of the Day: When Jeremiah joined in and really helped it to be funny and bearable as we got the kids relaxed again.

Of course, it was a great day taking the kids to the movies, to the playground, and having fun around the house. But this moment was a really good one.