KonMari 2016 - The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

VJsmum

mavvymoo wrote: »

I also had a dolls pram which Mum and Dad saved up for one Christmas thinking I would love it. But I wasnt a girly girl in those times.

So Mavvymoo wheeled it into the garden on Christmas Day Mum and Dad thinking oh look how cute she loves it
But Mavvymoo had other ideas and chucked the tiny tears out and filled it up with earth :eek:
What I had really wanted was a wheelbarrow so it was the next best thing

Mav x

What a waste, what a terrible waste..... :rotfl:

MMF007

Chopping board mountain at my client's house is now more of a small hill!

The 3 scratched flimsy plastic ones have gone.
The ridiculoulsy heavy huge wooden one has gone.
The duplicate large solid plastic one has gone.

There are three 'under consideration' - I think one will go, maybe all 3?!

That leaves 2 strong plastic ones that I bleached, largely for appearances, 2 paddle ones because they are, apparently, used for serving, 2 posh-looking wooden ones, because they can be used for serving, and a bread board that is used daily. So they are down to 7. As this not my stash I didn't feel the need to push for more releases, at least the ones left are functional and i think all but 2 will actually get used regularly.

I have one in my house:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Mavvy, i love the pram wheelbarrow!

grunnie

I love the wheelbarrow pram - I would have done that too if I had had a pram. I just wanted lego and it was a boys' toy so none for me. The first thing I bought when I had my son was lego:j
This Km lark makes cleaning and tidying a joy no mess no stuff to put away. I emptied my cutlery drawer and washed the tray thingie and usually have loads of bits to bin or for the cs but not today all the stuff went back where they belong.

Siebrie

When I was 4 I had a very good friend at nursery; he was given a doll for his birthday, and I (girl) got a trainset! We both loved our gifts!

PollyWollyDoodle

Firstly, VJsMum those dresses are beautiful - what a wonderful way to use your wedding dress. They will bring some comfort to people whose whole world has collapsed.

Topher - some wise words above; all I'd add is that you've already done the hardest part, which is to recognise where you are. One of the things I found helpful was the concept of a person you wanted to become, but no longer aspire to - that enabled me to dispose of some hobby stuff that I'd hung on to. I realised that I wasn't ever going to be that person, nor did I want to be.

Start small - underwear is good. Enjoy the feeling of order and space you achieve. It will help you to focus on the next step, I've almost forgotten what it was like 'before' now, but not having to move six things every time I open a cupboard to get at the stuff behind, is a good feeling.

I do think the MK idea of actually picking things up and focusing on how they feel is important. It's easy to look in a drawer and think 'oh yes, I want all of those' but handling them may help.

It IS hard to let go of Stuff you've paid good money for, and the stories above about the doll's pram and the space hopper brought tears to my eyes. (Although Mavvy's story made me laugh!) I had a loving childhood and didn't want for essentials but I recall the envy I felt for the toys that other children had, knowing full well that I couldn't expect them. But as GQ says - nothing makes up for that now, and if I'm honest it didn't damage me.

I wish you luck with your journey, you can do this and the benefits of a simpler life are great. I still have way too much craft stuff but at least I know what and where it is!

loocyloo

MMF007 wrote: »

Chopping board mountain at my client's house is now more of a small hill!

The 3 scratched flimsy plastic ones have gone.
The ridiculoulsy heavy huge wooden one has gone.
The duplicate large solid plastic one has gone.

There are three 'under consideration' - I think one will go, maybe all 3?!

That leaves 2 strong plastic ones that I bleached, largely for appearances, 2 paddle ones because they are, apparently, used for serving, 2 posh-looking wooden ones, because they can be used for serving, and a bread board that is used daily. So they are down to 7. As this not my stash I didn't feel the need to push for more releases, at least the ones left are functional and i think all but 2 will actually get used regularly.

I have one in my house:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Mavvy, i love the pram wheelbarrow!

ive got 6/maybe 8/maybe 12 chopping boards! ... one is used all the time, another is used quite a lot, the others ... occasionally. a couple are that very flimsy bendy plastic but useful for cutting biscuits or scones out on ... I'd never given them a thought, but actually, I think I can let some go! at least 4 big colour coded plastic ones!

GreyQueen

Evening all.

Ooof, am I tired. Went to the allotment after work with the express intent to haul two heavy IKEYA blue bags down to the tip via wheelbarrow (steady, mavvy! no drooling!). Job jobbed by dusk but it was heavy work.

Had an email this morning asking for a freegle item, one which I thought people would be biting my hands off to get, but which took 48 hrs to get one nibble. Hopefully it'll go this weekend as planned but I've learned not to count my chickens until they're collected.

VJsMum, those dresses are exquisite and many kudos to you and the other ladies who donate their dresses and to the lovely people who make them into burial gowns. Such kindness towards the bereaved parents makes me well up.

Re Stuff one didn't get as a child, I've often thought that even the Rockefellas and their ilk are probably driven nuts by kids going I want I want I want like a stuck record. We little human beans are very much the greedy monkeys of our hindbrains, all appetites and very little reason.

I recall something which was among the saddest things I ever heard. A woman I know was formerly employed as a teacher in one of Europe's most elite boarding schools. Very definately only the children of the 0.01% there. No expense was spared, even the music facility had enough for each child to have an instrument of every type all to themselves.

The elite parents of these youngsters parked them in the elite school and often didn't even bother to visit them, or take them home for school holidays. They were warehoused, in effect.

The teacher told me that these children would be bereft at this parental indifference, and ask her heartwrenching things like Why did my parents have me if they didn't want me?

I meditate on that. Yup, I didn't get a space hopper and my clothes weren't the fashionable clothes, and we didn't have a car or fancy holidays or after-school activities but, by gum, I was wanted and loved and cared for, and that should be more than enough.

greent

I've got 5 chopping boards in the house and another 3 in the camping/ caravanning stuff. I use all the ones in the house - 2 are thick, solid plastic stuff which are great for putting in dishwasher and 3 are wooden boards which are also used every week at least. I feel no need to KM any of them

GreyQueen

I have three chopping boards, all wood, one of which is used once or even twice a day.

The biggest board is used for slicing cooked meat on one side and veggies on the other, and the round breadboard, which was already ancient in my mother's 1950s childhood, is used for small chopping jobs related to the daily salad making (I don't eat bread).

The third smallish wooden board is reserved for raw meats, which I slice up occasionally. All very different sizes and shapes, so no danger of confusing their purposes.

silvasava

I have one chopping board - it's toughened glass and gets a swipe of bleach after cutting meat. Used it for years and not killed anyone yet
Mavvy I always wanted a Meccano set! My boys had a space hopper and they and DH used to use it as a football as bouncing on it rapidly lost its appeal lol.