With all of the information out there, becoming a mom is completely overwhelming. Everyone wants your money, Buy Buy Baby is even bold enough to put it right out there.
Guess what, you don't hardly need all that stuff you or your friends and family are being pressured to buy. My goal for this post is let you off of the hook and give you a new lens with which to view the state of your life and your baby's life in terms of "stuff". The best way for me to help you keep clutter at bay is by giving you my favorite 3 ways of simplifying with new awarenesses to consider when the walls start closing in:
1. Does this help me or hurt me? View the clutter as individual objects and answer the question for each object. Helpful items are useful or bring joy. Harmful objects are things you don't love or use and create stress by just crowding your space.
2. How long will the baby need this? This is everything from burp cloths to diapers to toys. Understanding that you are traveling through different "stages of being" with your baby can help you make better decisions not only about purchases ($150 for a pair of shoes they can't even walk in?) but also in training yourself to understand the lifecycle and temporary state of most objects that travel through your baby's life. Letting go is an important skill for all of us.
3. Where should this live? My favorite little game to play with organizing is to decide where things "live". First we decide what room, then we decide the location and then we get containers. Do not deviate from that order. Buying containers doesn't create order, systems do.
More questions to ask:
-where do I (or the baby) use this?"
-how often do I use it?
The frequency of use determines the location. Easy access for daily, like drawers and eye level shelves. Lower drawers/shelves and higher shelves for seasonal and less needed items.
Going through this process will open your eyes and it will help you stay ahead of the stuff and anticipate what's next to be donated. And remember, stuff isn't love. Love is love.
SPRING CLEANING
