I was on here last in October last year with a disappointed attitude of what was accomplished. I kind of gave up for a while and then spent a few months in bed and pretty sick from the joyous suprise of my third child. I am due September 1st with my third boy! As I put it, I am adding to my collection. Although I am sure girls are amazing and a daughter would be a wonderful gift from God, I like my boys and feel better equipped to manage them.
In all this, I have now been up and going at almost regular pace for about 4 weeks. In that time I have accomplished more than I could have ever imagined! Call in nesting or making up for the boredom I found in not being able to walk through the house without getting sick, but I am cleaning and clearing out this house! A new beginning to simplicity with a new life.
With a new little boy to add to the other 2, I have gone an unconventional route for their bedrooms, but just in the 2 days we have been in the arrangement, I can already tell it will be a success! I can say as a child, I had everything I could ever need and want, although I always thought I needed more! My boys are in the same state!! My oldest, who turned eight last Monday, loves to share a room with his 2, almost 3 (14 days) year old brother. I tried to seperate them to no avail. Then I realized what a blessing this could be. So, I seperated the stuff instead! Toys in one room, boys in the other! For 2 days I have had peace, their rooms have stayed clean and I have spent more time enjoying their giggles rather than induring their screaming!
In this opportunity to move the toys to their new play room, or 'my baby woom' as Paxton calls it, I went through their things and took out over half of what was there. Broken toys, trash, thousands of silly bands, and toys to hide away and pull out on a rainy day. Too much stuff caused hardship for these boys. They would rather sit in front of the tv or play video games than play with the 1000's of dollars worth of toys in their room. Now, they are playing peacfully and enjoying the little things they have. And last night, it only took them 8 minutes to clean up the mess from the entire day!
Beyond my boys, I have cleaned out every room and every cabinet in the house. Amazingly, I have found some great stuff to decorate with or to repurpose. I have a great pile for donation and a pile waiting to go to the dumpster. I am excited to see so may of my cabinets empty or close to empty... When you live simply, who needs extra storage!?
I am learning so much about simple living as I prepare for this new little boy. I am looking into alternatives to so many things. I have been led to an amazing blog www.keeperofthehome.org. She spends time talking about natural and simple living. I have been encouraged to try cloth diapers and wipes, to continue recycling and find new ways to challenge my family to daily live in a way that pleases God.
I am thankful God is blessing me with this new life. It is giving me new purpose to change the life I live with my famiy and a new challenge to be watchful of my time, money and other resources so we can live to best life for Him! And it is all worth it to see the stresses begin to deminish and the laughter return with abundance!
It does sound like you are in full-on nest mode!
ReplyDeleteAbout 6 weeks ago, I did something very similar with my boys. Now they just have books in their bedroom, everything else is in the "play room." It has freed them up to see what there is to play with, instead of having to come and get me to pull something down out of the closet.
I did get rid of a lot, but I just sorted the Legos. That was the big deal. Of course, you can't throw even one of those away. Now they are in boxes according to color.