My #1 Clutter Problem

I am a huge fan of de-cluttering and organizing. I LOVE to clean out closets, and cabinets, and throw.things.out. But, I have come to realize that there is one area that I really struggle with.

Memories, mementos, keepsakes, whatever you want to call them. I am a hoarder of all things memories. I have pictures, drawings, cards, clay pots with fingerprints, notes, movie stubs, certificates, dried flowers, you name it and I bet I have it!

The bigger problem being that it is all.over.my.house. Most of my clutter is at least organized in categories in certain, appropriate locations. But, not this one. Nope, I have stuff crammed in every corner, top shelf, attic…well you get the idea. I recently decided to condense all of my kids keepsakes into much more manageable storage containers that would store their things safely until they were ready to move them to their own home.

But, seriously, as I was purging, and collecting, I just kept finding more and more stuff. Everywhere I looked, there was more stuff. What in the world!!

Oh, and don’t even get me started with photos. There are scrapbooks, boxes of photos (printed before I had a digital camera), photo albums, and then of course gads of digital photos which I am always terrified of losing to some computer crash! But even those are not organized really. I made a family yearbook…one year. I have started family scrapbooks, several times. And although I love the end result. The doing is just so much work.

If you are a young mama, with littles can we just stop here for a moment. Do yourself a favor. Organize as you go. Keep only those things precious to you and corral them all in one place. And as for those photos, keep them organized too. Don’t wait 5, 10, or 20 years later to tackle it all at once. Can we please say “OVERWHELMING”? And, I highly recommend the annual family yearbook. What a better way to be able to look back over a year at a glance! Also, online storage of those albums – in case something happens to the original you can always order another one. Look for sales! Sign up for email notifications for %off sales and take advantage of them.

All that said, I am diving into the abyss that is our memories (20+ years worth), and trying to make some sense of it all. Make it a little more accessible maybe by getting it all more organized. If you don’t hear back from me soon, send a search party! I may be drowning under the weight of it all!

Just kidding, it’s Spring Break, so you may not hear from me for a while anyway. And in the spirit of de-cluttering, I have some growing boys whose closets need to be cleaned out!! See you back here soon!!

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