May 24 07

could also be called

project: no more babies

we have this room in our basement. the furnace room. it’s a huge room that begs to be used for storage. it has our furnace, sure, and our tools (well, the husbands tools since the only one i use in the screwdriver…and that always seems to be missing anyway), our luggage, and the baby stuff. the swing that went through two babies and didn’t get used more than thrice. the two infant car seats. the exersaucer. the bouncy chairs (yes, we have more than one) and the clothes. the clothes! i want to say it’s ludicrous how much clothing my spawn has accumulated over the years. but ludicrous? is the understatement of the year.

it’s like saying that Britney Spears can’t dress.

Photo: WD Britney Spears as Malibu Barbie

or that Jennifer Garner is a good mom

anyway, you get the point. giant rubbermaid tubs lined the walls. and when there was no more room….they just started getting thrown into the room, wherever they would go. in my mind, and in my old nanny’s mind, if it was in that room, it didn’t matter how much of a sty it was.

until the husband had to take the furnace guy into that room. and had to brave the baby stuff jungle.

i had been meaning to tackle the furnace room for a while. but i had been meaning to tackle lots of clutter-iferous places in our home. it’s just when the task feels so daunting…i don’t want any part of it. little jobs are easy….but the big ones? too time consuming! too much work!

but, i did it.

14 garbage bags of clothing to donate to goodwill.

3 garbage bags of clothing to give to friends for their children.

3 tubs of size 2 clothing for Isabella. (it was like hitting the jackpot. dresses. shorts. shirts. skirts. i didn’t remember that i had any of it….but looking at it brought on a rush of memories. of when Emily wore each piece. and of the pieces Emily rejected…since it was around 2 when Emily woke up and decided that she would ONLY wear skirts….oh, what a great phase that was…)

1 tub left.

everything else is gone.

i don’t want it in my house.

and then everyone says….don’t get rid of your stuff, what if you get pregnant by accident?

and to them -and to you – i say, if i get pregnant with my (godsend of an) IUD – it’s completely meant to be and i will enjoy buying – or borrowing – new clothing for that new little munchkin. but as of now….i feel so good. the room is CLEAN! it’s practically EMPTY!

and if anyone needs a nearly new swing…let me know, i can hook you up.

 

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  1. Feels good to clean house, doesn’t it!

    Do you have a bike trailer?

    Comment by metro mama on May 24, 2007
  2. I’m very proud of you! I have a crawl space in my basement that is filled with baby clothes (and for only one 6 yr old kid!). I NEED to do this, but the task seems daunting. You may just have given me the inspiration!

    Comment by Sarah on May 24, 2007
  3. Wow. I envy you. You have a clean room in your home…

    Comment by Janet a.k.a Wonder Mom on May 24, 2007
  4. We have a space like that in our house. And, we have no excuse since we only moved in December. And, since we’re on the fence about having another baby (okay,more on the side of having one, but no idea when), we are totally confused as to what to do with the stuff. We are kind of thinking of throwing all the stuff in a garage sale and then buying new stuff when we decide to have another. Like, who needs 2 exersaucers? And why on earth did we decide this after we moved???

    Comment by Laural on May 24, 2007
  5. I just hope my wife reads this. She respects your opinion, so maybe it’ll mean I get access to our lower level…

    How was your birthday? With no post yesterday I had to assume it was really, really good (hungover) or really, really bad (too angry to tell the internets).

    Comment by SciFi Dad on May 24, 2007
  6. Don’t need a new swing – by GOD do I ever NOT need a new swing!! BUT…. I do however, need a serious purging of crap. Much like what you just described. Good for you on getting it done!! Must feel FABULOUS!!

    Comment by Jay on May 24, 2007
  7. Gosh, I want to do this SO BADLY in my house. My basement is overflowing with crap (well, useful stuff but nothing I want any more) and I’m just waiting for some free time to sort it and give it away.

    And I agree with your philosophy: if by some miracle my hubs’ surgery reverses and we do end up with a kid, I’ll either get new stuff or borrow it all. No more hanging on to things which will probably never be used by me again.

    Comment by Nancy on May 24, 2007
  8. Hee! Your “spawn”! That cracked me up. 🙂 Sounds like you had a productive weekend. Cleaning up burns lots of calories, too — so you can eat all you want TONIGHT! Woo. See you later! 🙂

    Comment by Haley-O on May 24, 2007
  9. What? No Idol talk? Disappointing. . . tsk, tsk.

    And WOW, that’s a lot of cleaning. Sounds very productive. Nice job!

    Comment by Haley on May 24, 2007
  10. You are totally going to get pregnant. I gave a bunch a crap away and a month later I found out I was pregnant with number four!

    Comment by slackermommy on May 24, 2007
  11. That is exactly what I did last weekend with our basement. We had kept EVERYTHING of our son’s – swing, bouncy seatS, saucer, crap, toys & all clothes from 0-5T (he’s now in 6).

    So I emptied all those plastic tubs!! It looks so nice down there now. All gone. And LOTS of plastic tubs to fill again I guess?

    Comment by Fenicle on May 24, 2007
  12. Cleaning out a cluttered space is so cathartic! I would do the same with my ginormous stacks of baby whatnots but everytime I see a wrinkly little newborn my ovaries get jumpy. Maybe getting rid of everything would give me the last push I need to close the door and say “fool! three’s enough!”

    Comment by Mamaluv on May 24, 2007
  13. congrats on the de-cluttering! it feels so good, i know. i remember when i first moved in to my current apartment, i was so depressed, because i’d just moved out from the place i shared with my fiance. but cleaning the place out helped a lot, and i felt better. 🙂

    Comment by lara on May 25, 2007
  14. We have a couple of rooms that my husband likes to fill up with Incredibly Valueable Things That He Might Need Some Day – I was poking around in the laundry room and found a bin of clothing that we’d set aside for The Baby and had the saem rush of nostalgia that you talked about.

    Comment by Rebecca on May 25, 2007
  15. Good for you! We’re working on this…slowly, since we don’t have ANY extra room!

    Craigslist is my friend!

    And happy birthday!!

    Comment by Naomi (Urban Mummy) on May 25, 2007
  16. I *so* need to do this. But I won’t. I’m not readyyyyy… (maybe you could come over and do my house next??)

    Comment by DaniGirl on May 25, 2007
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