Too Much Stuff

Last night my husband called me from Mexico to say he had a dream. Not a Martin Luther King kind of dream, but a dream about lost secrets, lost treasures, lost glasses. My husband, Greg, suffers from a sad condition called Pack Rat Syndrome, or PRS. This a very painful disorder, especially for one's spouse. Pack Rat Syndrome will cause the patient to save everything and stash them in strange hiding places...Christmas presents, gift cards, cameras, spare cash, power cords, important documents, and GLASSES. The afflicted will contend that it is for ‘the greater good’ (teaching a lesson in not leaving things lying around) but the affected will simply experience panic. He will also hide things he does not want the kids to eat, like the good cereal, sodas or candy. The patient will, of course, not remember WHERE he has ‘protected’ them. So, the poor, harried spouse may come upon expired gift certificates, old checks, etc...Long after their period of usefulness has expired. There is something lost in receiving a happy 40th birthday card on your 41st birthday or that very funny ‘Far Side’ calendar, two years late.
Before Greg left for Mexico, our most disorganized child, also suffering from the same sad disorder, lost his new glasses. Glasses for crying out loud! Why is it that only really expensive items disappear into thin air? Glasses, retainers, the charger for my camera, the camera itself, never cheap dollar store stuff, but I digress. So, we had been looking for these glasses for a week before he left.
On the fourth morning of his trip, one day after I ordered a new pair of glasses, Greg calls me to tell me that he has had a dream, not a Martin Luther...wait, sorry, we got that far....
He has had a dream that the lost glasses are to be found in a cabinet above the dryer?? He is not sure if this dream is a vision from beyond or a repressed memory. But, that is where he feels I will find the glasses. The cabinet he is referring to holds football and baseball pants and jerseys from days of yore so it is the only logical place for glasses? right? So, I go to said cabinet and "voila!" "C'est spectacles!" Yes, only his subconscious mind is aware of his hiding places. I probably asked him at least 20 times before he left if he might have hidden them somewhere and he was somewhat miffed and offended that I would accuse him of hiding something and not remembering he did it.
In order to combat PRS and other disorders like it, I have instituted a few rules that might work in your house, too. Recognizing early on in our marriage that this was a genetically linked disorder, leaving others predisposed to the condition, I saw the necessity to simplify. Clothes seem to be the biggest clutter maker in my house. Between, football, soccer and baseball gear for the boys and a few little princesses who have costume changes every 5 minutes, we can go through a lot of laundry. So, no more than 7 outfits per child per season. One a day. If a princess needs a costume she can find one in the dress up box. Only 2 pairs of shoes per season. They each have one pair of tennis shoes and one pair of dress shoes that belong in the cubbies by the front door. This stops the constant “I can’t find my shoe issue, because I left them in the backyard under the trampoline and it rained last night due to the fact that I have 5 other pairs….around somewhere……You will be amazed at how limiting the amount clothes your kids have will simplify your life and free your time. The teens have more clothes because they are able, in theory, to buy and wash those on their own.
Paper is another big clutter item. It gathers on every flat service imaginable. And how amazing is it that you can save every paper, yet not find that permission slip when it is due. Just like necessity is the mother of invention, organization is the father of success. Deal with paper the first time it touches your hands. Mail: toss the junk and file the bills, school papers: admire work, then toss, permission slips: sign immediately and hand back to child. This also goes for magazines, you see a good idea when you are looking at it, then cut it out, put it in a page protector and keep in a binder. Don’t save any paper on any surface that you do not need.
Last, If you don’t need something, pass it on to someone who does. Craigslist, freecycle, ebay, make it easy to unload those things you don’t need anymore. Why are you keeping that bread machine you got 15 years ago when the last time you used it was 14 years ago? Pass it on!
When I first moved to California I was astonished at all the cars parked on the streets, while the garages are full of “stuff.” What is that stuff anyway? Are we using it or just hanging on for dear life. Get rid of it. The simpler and less cluttered your home is, the calmer your family will be. Truly, the more cluttered your home is, the more cluttered your mind will be. We cannot think or be at peace with so much clutter. How many times have you had to buy something again that you know you have somewhere in your house? That means you have too much stuff! Let it go, my friend!
So, anyway the glasses are now found and I wasted an entire week of my life turning this house upside down and putting it back together again looking for them. Sigh… Now, I just need to learn patience. I am going to need it the next time I find a box of cereal hidden behind the water heater?!