If you know me, you know I hate junk. I'm pretty "type A" when it comes to being organized - and the slightest bit of clutter gives me anxiety. So, given that I live with 3 boys - two of whom are 4-years-old , (the other is almost 40, but let's just say he's not quite as organized as me;) I'm learning to roll with the punches, though I'm not sure I'll ever learn to LOVE clutter.
With Christmas around the corner, I'm totally jazzed. Christmas is absolutely my favorite time of year. If there is/was a female Clark Grizwald, I'd be her, hands down! That being said - prepping our home for Christmas is something of another beast. We have toys, bikes and other riding toys cluttering every corner of the house and junk in our basement that I can't seem to get around (the result of two separate floods this year) but that's a whole other story.
Let's just start with the toys: The boys live with us part time, so I thought about doing a toy dump on a weekend they are with their mother, so as to make room for everything new coming in from Santa Clause next month. After all, they probably wouldn't know what was missing if I did it when they are gone, right? (We even still have a couple of toys in boxes from 2 years ago that never got opened and are still in the closet, oops my bad.)
But then I thought maybe there's a lesson in here...Instead of me using my immediate "have to get rid of", "dump it now" decluttering ways, I'm wondering if we should include the boys in this process? There are dozens of children's charities that need gently used toys. Toys for Tots is also always in need of new, unwrapped toys during the holiday season. I think a trip to Toys R Us to have the boys pick out a toy to buy for a needy child would be a great lesson indeed. I'll let you know how that one flies!
Below are some lists of local charities looking for toys this time of year, if you're looking to de-clutter before Santa comes:
Toys for Tots (only accepts new toys)
Northern VA Salvation Army
Goodwill of Greater Washington
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