Too much STUFF!

I'm not sure about those of you reading this, but I know my house is over run with "stuff". Random things. Way too much of it. Are we all just slaves to this "stuff"? I know sometimes I feel that way!

There is a gadget out there to preform just about any and every task. Most of it has only one use and it all takes up space. We live in a mini home, so we really notice just how much space things take up. It also tends to take away a lot of our time and can raise our stress level when we can't find the gadget we want or when it doesn't work properly.

Let me better explain what I mean. There is my bread maker that I love. It is one of the larger kitchen appliances (aside from the fridge and stove etc), and has only one use. So the rest of the time it just sits there, taking up space on my counter.

We have Television's, but now most people want either HD cable or satellite, both require an extra box to sit near the Television. Then we have DVD players, and then we need a VCR to play all those VHS types we required BEFORE we got DVD players. All these things then need a stand or entertainment unit to hold them.

Then there are children's items. For babies there are exersaucers, bouncy seats, jumpers, floor mats, swings and much more which all take space, space and more space. Not that many years ago all these things did not exists, and yet some how all our brains developed perfectly fine and our parents managed to raise us without all this extra stuff.

Older children who live in this time are Lucky, their parents however are not so much! There is every toy imaginable available to these children. Anything you could thing of and then some. Not only are there a billion different toys, but there are at least 5-10 models of the same toy. Children tend to think they need all 10 models of all billion toys. Children today are much more tuned in to the differences between every toy and model of toy as well as the marketing for them then I ever remember being. My three year old has recently gotten a very bad case of the give-Me's. Not something I want to foster.

He is three years old and has 4 large toy boxes holding more cars then any one child needs and no two are the same. This always amazes me because we have not spoiled him. However by the time you receive gifts at Christmas and birthdays for 4 years from a large family on one side and a Nana who loves to spoil her grandchildren on the other, you would be amazed at what one can accumulate. Unfortunately my son has every toy cataloged in his brain, which makes de-cluttering very hard.

Most days I feel like a slave to all this stuff. Constantly picking it up, rearranging it, cleaning it and maintaining it. These things that are suppose to improve our life and make it easier/better are actually creating more work and less family time and relaxation.

When was the last time you sat in a room with your family with no television on, no computer, to video games and no distractions? When was the last time you were all focused on the same thing and not all off doing your own activities? Even when we "relax" we are not giving our brains a chance to relax. We wonder why we all have sleep problems and are stressed, our minds can't relax because they are so overstimulated with technology.

We have come to the point where we are ready to de-clutter our lives and get back to the basics. Less television, more family time. Less toys, more imagination. Less stuff and more space. Less stress and more fun.

Instead of buying baked goods I'm going to bake them myself. Less money spent and more time with my son who loves to cook with me. Instead of having an overflowing closet I'm going to have a few great pieces I can mix and match and more money to spend on other things. Instead of spending the evening sitting on the couch vegging out on television, the computer and video games I'm going to spend my time doing constructive things. Relaxing will be a good book, a walk or running around playing with my kids.

The basics. What we all need to get back too. A simpler time when we all had less but were all much happier. We had more time and space. We were more family centered and there were less divorces, and less troubled children and more good people filled with good values and work ethic.

Don't get me wrong, I think technology has a place and can be very useful, as can a lot of my "stuff". I just don't want to be consumed by it all and over run with it. I want a simpler and less cluttered life. So let the de-cluttering begin!