A guest post by Cindy Bogard

Darling you got to let me know
Should I stay or should I go?
If you say that you are mine
I’ll be here ’til the end of time
So you got to let me know
Should I stay or should I go?

The Clash

Should it stay or should it go? Who hasn’t asked that during their decluttering efforts? One things I think we need to keep in mind while decluttering is the future usefulness of an item. Now I’m not trying to enable those who say, “Perhaps I can use it later…My sister’s husband’s next-door neighbor might want it … You just never know ….” I’m talking about hanging onto things, possibly things you haven’t used in a while, if you can clearly identify a time when you anticipate using them and if you can store them without inconvenience.

In an earlier post, Colleen identified one of these circumstances in her life. In anticipation of her daughter moving out of the house, Colleen had saved housewares she no longer needed to help her daughter set up he first household. Yes, the items were stacking up (in boxes in the garage, as I recall), but they had a purpose, just not quite yet.

Recently I’ve tangled with a few of these objects. The closet in the girls’ bathroom is a storage closet. One shelf is for their towels, and the rest is general household storage, including our soft camping equipment (sleeping bags, air mattresses).

Dan and I talked about everything I thought was extra, and he agreed, it should all go. It was me who hesitated when the time actually came. First I pulled down all the camping equipment. Remember, this is for 4 people: 4 sleeping bags, 4 air mattresses, 2 sleeping pads, 2 tents (and neither is the big family tent that we use when we camp). Hmmm, a bit overstocked, and I must tell you, I was shocked to find two tents. One was my two-person tent from before Dan and I were married (unused for the past 12 years), and the other one was a mystery to me … even to Dan! I immediately thought that I should get rid of both tents and the two extra sleeping pads, although I really wanted to hang onto my tent, which was quite expensive and very nice, almost sentimental clutter, I think you could say. But, more than what you need is clutter, right? So out it should all go.

I sure was grateful that stuff was still in the house when I got an email about a week later letting me know that it was time for Ranch Romp, a weekend camping trip of the 5^th and 6^th grades. The teachers needed two-person tents, and since the girls would be carrying in their gear, sleeping pads rather than air mattresses. In addition, since Clara has diabetes, I would come out to the camp in the evening and spend the night to monitor Clara’s overnight sugars. Suddenly, I needed a two-person tent and two sleeping pads.

Clara and I checked all the gear: The mystery tent was missing stakes. The remaining tent and the two sleeping pads were fully functional, despite age, probably because they are high quality goods and stored in the house, rather than the hot garage or attic.

Ranch Romp was a great success, and I continued musing over these extra camping items. “Should I stay or should I go?” It occurred to me that since my family goes camping twice a year with a group of five other families, and the oldest girls are now approaching 11, they would probably love to have a tent all to themselves soon. Sure, it’s not necessary, but it’s fun and, for them, another step toward independence. I decided that since Clara will go on Ranch Romp one more time and then Audra will go twice, the extra gear is well worth keeping. Five years ago, maybe not, but I hung onto it long enough (before I knew better, of course), and now I can see a need for it. (Except the mystery tent. Out it goes.)

If I didn’t have these things, would I have been heartbroken when Ranch Romp came around? No, other parents or the school could provide the tents, and Clara and I could have slept without sleeping pads, but I did have them. For now, I see the future usefulness of these items, even though they had been unused for a decade. All this camping equipment is stored on just one shelf, and it’s not creating clutter, preventing me from accessing other items, or falling on my head when I open the door.

I think if you’re in a toss-up about something ask yourself (and answer honestly) “Even though I haven’t used this in the past decade, can I identify a specific time in the future when I will use this again?” If you’re still stymied, move onto other, move obvious choices. You can always swing back around later, and maybe you’ll realize that what seemed like a “Should I stay?” is really a “Should I go?” Don’t worry overly about making a wrong choice; although The Clash sings “If you say that you are mine / I’ll be here ’til the end of time,” your stuff doesn’t need to be.

Decluttered from Cindy’s today: an ice cream ball and rock salt, donated to a neighbor.

ITEM 304 0F 365 LESS THINGS

These candles are a little too ugly now to put out on display and they were just hiding away in a cupboard so they can go

5 Things I am grateful for today

1. That Liam had a good morning even if doing graffiti on his bed sheets is a little naughty. It was his friends that gave him the marking pen not me.
2. All the support of family, fellow bloggers, my reader friends, our family friends, strangers and anyone who has sent kind words and messages of support and prayers.
3. That Rachel in bed 10 showed signs of awaking from her sleep today after two weeks. It was wonderful to see the happiness on the faces of her family and friends.
4. Liam’s wonderful friends who come to see him as often as they can and treat him like nothing has happened. Liam is always in a better frame of mind when they are around.
5. That my husband has a month off work so we can get through this together.

Cindy wrote another great post on Thursday which gave me inspiration to finally write something after this week of craziness. She wrote about the two types of clutter – Let it all hang out clutter and hidden clutter. With those as my choices I think I fall into the hidden clutter category but I’m not convinced there isn’t a third option – The just own two much stuff variety of clutterer.

This clutterer has things out there neatly on display and hidden away in every nook and cranny at the same time. They either keep progressively moving into bigger homes to accommodate all this stuff they “just can’t live without” or continuously declutter only to make room for more wasteful substitute clutter.

Although maybe we could bring it back to the organized clutterer and the disorganized clutterer. In that case I am definitely the organized clutterer. My mother-in-law would tell you that when my children were little that I would put their toys away while they were still playing with them. That is probably only a slight exaggeration certainly not that far off the mark.

If anyone needed something in my home I could tell you exactly where it was at any given time. I could tell you what people had been up to just by where things were lying. Now I am starting to sound like a freak. My daughter had a “secret” party once when we were out of town overnight. I knew something was afoot as soon as I walked into the down stairs toilet because she had emptied the trash bin. Children don’t do chores without being told, at least mine don’t, so I investigated further. To cut a long story short she was grounded for the rest of the school year just because something was out of place.

All that being said, there is no hiding due to the fact that this blog exists that clutter can build up no matter how organized you think you are. You only have to look at all the photos of the stuff I have gotten rid of over the year to see proof of that. Some of it was hidden away and some was out neatly in full view but now most of it is either hanging out in the thrift store or being of better use to someone else.

I have always been a great organizer and declutterer but now I have learned to “be more with less” and not to be so wasteful and that is the key.

ITEM 303 OF 365 LESS THINGS

Pegs that fit on plastic coat hangers that I used to hang washing on when I lived in Seattle. I no longer hang washing this way and neither do I have plastic coat hangers so I don’t need these maybe someone else does.

5 Things I am grateful for today

1. A nice cup of tea to sooth frayed nerves.
2. The helpful overworked staff at the hospital.
3. Automatic washing machines – put it in walk away and come back to hang it out when it’s done.
4. My bed – I am looking forward to my head hitting the pillow tonight, I am exhausted.
5. Living in a location that is convenient to anything I need.

Five Favourite comments for this week – Once again it was hard to choose because there were so many and of course I loved all the ones wishing my boy well and I thank you all for that.

Ornela on Day 299 -Isn’t it beautiful to look at the world through the eyes of a child? – Read More

Imogen on Day 299 – Things I am grateful for… Read More

Bobbi on Day 298 – Great post, inspiring for many I am sure… Read More

Jo & Di on Day 298 – Jo – Cindy, they are not too long at all in my opinion… Read More Di – Cindy, you are always offering such useful information… Read More Thank you again Cindy for doing such an incredible job for we this week. Keep them coming and I will hopefully continue to find the inspiration to add more of my own. Maybe you could stick around and write at least one a week for me once I am fully back in the game. How about it?

Jo on Day – I’ve been thinking about one other thing that we often get offered at store events… Read More

Blog/posts I have read this week that I wish to share with you.

Om Freely – Dark DARK place

Fake Plastic Fish – A web site dedicated to finding ways to live with less plastic

Minimalist Woman – Simplest way is giving away

Miss Minimalist – Real life minimalists – Jennifer

Momentum Gathering – Are you gathering womentum

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ITEM 302 OF 365 LESS THINGS

Some old flip flops that I keep putting out for my daughter every time she visits but she keeps leaving behind. She is here at the moment so I took the opportunity to ask if she wanted them and she didn’t.

5 Things I am grateful today

1. A good friend coming to visit and build up my belief that everything will be OK.
2. Finding the will power to do the ironing.
3. Enough sunshine to get the sheets dry.
4. Liam ate more today and did it all himself. Not an easy task when you have your jaw stabilised with tight rubber bands.
5. Some alone time with my boy on a day when he seemed a lot more settled.

A guest post by Cindy Bogard

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say something that may be ridiculous. Ready? There are two types of clutterers – let it all hang out and hidden. There, I’ve said it. Let the eye rolling begin.

I am the first kind – the let it all hang out kind. While my cabinets and drawers are really pretty neat, and always were, every available surface used to be covered in stuff. Good stuff, junky stuff, stuff that has to be moved before anyone could eat, sit down, or visit.

BC (before children), I was very neat. I look back on the earlier days of my marriage when Dan and I would sometimes argue about who cleaned more. Ha! We hardly knew what was coming.

As I recall (any friend who is reading this, if you remember it differently, keep it to yourself), my house was pretty neat after Clara was born. Sure, the living room sometimes looked like a toy store had exploded in it, but the rest of the house was tidy.

It was when we moved to our current house four months before Audra was born that the wheels came off the bus. I am a fixer upper, and I can see potential in houses that others pass by, which is how we came to own an astoundingly dated but budget friendly house in the nicest neighborhood we could afford. It was plenty spacious with three bedrooms and an office, but it needed love, and lots of it. On and off, mostly on, we have been working on this house ever since, which has included serious remodeling – jack hammering concrete, moving walls, and adding a second floor.

Dan laughs that while we made a cocoon of safety for baby Clara, we happily birthed Audra in the middle of a construction zone.

I love talking about my house, but I’ve gotten slightly off-base. During all this time, things were always in flux, and nothing got put away. Dan would pick something up and say “Where does this go?” and I’d say, “I don’t know where it goes. Leave it there.” I didn’t want to put anything away if I didn’t know where “away” was. I would rather have it out and exposed than away and in a jumble. Or I would know that next week, next month, next year, I was going to tear those cabinets out, so why store something there now? I’d just have to move it later. I attempted organization by leaving laundry baskets in every room into which I would throw everything that didn’t belong, but the baskets just overflowed. (Saw that coming, didn’t you?)

Yes, there was stuff on every surface. No, I wasn’t raised this way. But I kind of got used to it. I would even feel anxious when I did clean, knowing that like Sisyphus pushing his boulder, there was no way the cleanliness would stick. Sure, I was embarrassed to have friends over and tried to meet them elsewhere, but I was always hopeful that organization was just around the corner. I guess it was, but let me tell you, that corner was on the end of a very long block.

We’ve all been to houses like this. You know when you’re in the home of a “let it all hang out” clutterer because it’s all there for you to see.

But then there’s the other kind of clutterer. The kind I most definitely am not. The kind whose house appears tidy, or relatively so, but whose closets are overflowing, whose drawers can’t open, or who have a whole room that no one’s allowed to enter. My aunt is this kind of clutterer. Her house is very tidy, almost minimalist, but there’s a spare bedroom that she calls her Klinefelter room, in memory of her grandparents (my great grandparents) who were such hoarders that you had to weave a path through their home. She keeps the door closed, and no one but her may enter.

Lots of people in the U.S. have Klinefelter garages. The house looks good, but there’s no way they’re going to get a car in there unless they call a dumpster first. Or, if you live in the north, it could be the curse of the basement. The boxes are packed so high and so thick that the owners can’t possibly really need what’s in the bottom boxes. After all, they’re never going to be able to get into them. These folks may think that they don’t have clutter because it’s all in boxes, maybe even in handy storage bins, or because it’s “just the garage” or “just the basement” but clutter is what it is. (In the interest of fair disclosure, I can’t get my car in the my garage either, but I know it’s cluttered. I could probably do a separate 365 less things on my garage, and maybe I will.)

I don’t think either of these types is better or worse. They’re both burdens to overcome. I think I might prefer to be a hidden clutterer because I’d love to have a cleaner house, but I do pride myself on a tidy drawer. Which kind of clutterer are you?

Today’s decluttered item from Cindy: 3 electrical outlet safety plugs (we’ve certainly outgrown the need for these) and an automatic cat feeder. Our local Humane Society actually has a pet supply freecycle because they get so many donations, and the feeder came from them. I’m glad I didn’t have to pay for it, as the food gets stuck and doesn’t refill as advertised. Besides, Stella was free feeding a little too generously. Now she’s restricted to a handful a day.

ITEM 301 OF 365 LESS THINGS

Every little things counts even these tiny storage jars.

5 Things I am grateful for today (by Colleen)

1. A morning walk – Hubby and I went out this morning and walked in a direction we hadn’t been in a while. Our neighbourhood is constantly changing and it never gets boring because there is always a new reno, a new building or a demolition/rebuild going on somewhere.
2. A beautiful blue ski – The sun is shining and the birds are singing today hopefully it is a reflection of the sort of day Liam will have today.
3. Glimmers of hope
4. Moments of normality in our day.
5. When the blissful moments of sleep give our boy some reprieve from his struggles.

A guest post by Cindy Bogard

Yes, my youngest was sent home from school with lice. Don’t worry; I’ll wait while you say “eeewwwwww!!!!” and scratch your head like a crazy monkey.

If you’ve never had to deal with lice – and I managed to go 47 years without it – it’s unexpected news that suddenly means a whole lot of unexpected work. The good news is that my daughter did not feel shamed or embarrassed at all, probably because the school had quite the outbreak, and she was far from the only one. When I was a kid, it was always hush-hush and embarrassing. You knew which kids had it because when they came back to school, their hair would always be shorter. Thank goodness that wasn’t necessary. My youngest is very, very vain about her very, very long hair. Also, being ashamed would be a waste of good energy, since the Center for Disease Control says that after the common cold, lice is the most commonly spread condition among elementary school children.

But what, you may be asking, does this have to do with decluttering?  Well, news of lice brings with it a lot of labor. In addition to the treatment of the hair, all the bedding must be washed and dried on hot. Pillows and stuffed animals that cannot be washed must be bagged, as lice cannot live for long off the body. Hair brushes, hair ties, clips and combs must be bathed in almost boiling hot water. All the floors, furniture, and beds must be vacuumed.

Thanks to decluttering, my children don’t have a lot of extra stuffed animals, only the few they really love, so bagging them was not a chore. Thanks to decluttering, I knew exactly where the plastic bags and twist ties were stored, and I was able to easily access them. Thanks to decluttering, my furniture and my floors are no longer cover with papers, books, shoes, toys, art supplies, and laundry baskets, so vacuuming them was a straight-forward proposal. Thanks to decluttering, all the girls’ hair things are in one place and neatly organized, so cleaning them did not require a scavenger hunt first. And thanks to decluttering, my laundry room was tidy and free of piles of clothes, so I has room to drop the linens and a place to put them when they were dry. Cleaning the house to prevent a reinfection wasn’t a lot more difficult than just cleaning the house – all thanks to decluttering.

Today’s declutter item: a Playhut pop-up train. The kids are way too big for it but have been very reluctant to let it go. It’s a perfect example of something left too long that may no longer be good, as the fabric has starting breaking down while its been stashed behind the sofa.

A little comment from Colleen

Day 300 – Wow where did all that time go. I feel like I am dropping the ball at the moment but all I am really doing is trying to keep all my marbles together.

Our precious boy was feeding himself today although I would like him to be eating a little more because there isn’t much of him in the first place. He can be a little cheeky at times but mostly he is very frustrated with his condition. I feel so helpless but unfortunately it is all up to him.

DAY 300 OF 365 LESS THINGS

Some beads that are excess to my wants.

5 Things I am grateful for today

1. Getting through one more day.
2. My little girl cooking me dinner again.  She makes a delicious blackened salmon sandwich with rosemary mayonnaise.
3. An organised home which is a refuge from the storm of life that hit us so suddenly.
4. Learning to be patient – wishful anxiety doesn’t make things happen faster.
5. My husband – he is a tower of strength when the going gets tough.

A guest post by Cindy Bogard

I am writing this on Sunday, although I know you are not reading it on Sunday. At my house, we take Sunday as a day of rest and family time. So instead of writing a blog, I am going to list the things that I am grateful for today. I challenge you to use to comment section to add your own gratitude list.

Cindy’s Gratitude List

1. Insulin, which was not discovered until the 1920s and without which my daughter would die.
2. The fantastic weather we’ve had for the past month.
3. My friends Holly and Dan T and my mother who spent 8 hours yesterday helping Dan and I paint. (Dan T did the 16” ceilings in the stairwell!) Also Holly’s husband Steve, who took the kids away with him for the day.
4. That my husband is still employed when so many others have lost their jobs.
5. Books on CD, which amuse the girls and me when we are in the car.

For Cindy – Today’s decluttered item is courtesy of Dan: 2 remote control cars.

ITEM 299 OF 365 LESS THINGS

I have soooo many hand towels that I really don’t need these holey ones

Colleen’s Gratitude List

Amidst the haze of sadness it makes life more bearable to concentrate on the good things in our lives. There are so many things to be grateful for that we take for granted every day until we find ourselves in a position where our focus changes

1. A good nights sleep – It is amazing how emotions running wild can wear you out. I am so glad we seem to be able to get some sleep at night.
2. Good private health insurance.
3. Our boy is making great progress. He is awake at last and starting to speak, he can recognise us and has written some stuff down but is a bit confused and distressed about what he has done to himself.
4. My little girl being here for her little brother and for us and doing what she can to help.
5. All the prayers and good wishes from all those wonderful people out there that took the time to care.

All the prayers have been answered  our boy is awake.

He is in a lot of pain and is distressed but he has taken a huge step on the road to recovery. It is heartbreaking to see him suffering but the pain will subside more each day. He isn’t able to talk well enough to understand easily yet but he is trying hard and communicating in other ways.

By Cindy Bogard

In 2008, I heard about the book Does This Clutter Make my Butt Look Fat? by Peter Walsh. The title is enough to make you take a second look, and as I recall, he made the circuit of all the daytime talk shows. Without knowing more, I thought it was the most ridiculous thing I ever heard and forgot about it until this weekend.

Like a lot of people, I have struggled with my weight. I was always small but after the birth of my second child, I hit almost 180 pounds and stayed there. Maybe four years ago, I decided that nonsense had to change. I joined Weight Watchers and set what I considered to be reasonable goal – 138, the same as I weighed when I got pregnant with my first child. I got down to 143, decided that was good enough, and that’s where I stayed until last year when I crept up just a few pounds. I could still wear my same clothes. It was fine.

In December of last year, my eldest daughter Clara was quite unexpectedly diagnosed with type 1 (juvenile) diabetes. Overnight, our entire family eliminated most carbs and nearly all sweets. The few pounds I’d gained disappeared.

Recently, and also unexpectedly, I lost another eight pounds and slid past my long-lost goal of 138. I didn’t trust the loss; I hadn’t done anything to actively make it happen, and I had no reason to think that it would stay gone.

Over the weekend, I was hiking with a friend and I was saying that I could pull some of my pants off without unbuttoning them, but that I was storing these clothes for when the weight came back. She thought that “no effort weight loss” was the best kind – more guaranteed than “plenty of effort weight loss” because it had happened without my conscious effort.  Then she said, “I think this weight loss has to do with decuttering: less stuff, less weight.” I laughed and said that was silly then remembered Peter Walsh’s book. I wondered if there was really anything to it. Turns out, there was.

I still haven’t read the book, but I have read the reviews. (I know, “I’m not a doctor; I just play one on TV.”) In a nutshell, Walsh wasn’t talking about losing weight by decluttering randomly around the house. He was talking about decluttering the kitchen cabinets, pantry, refrigerator and freezer – clearing out what is not important to you to make way for what is.

I have an extremely functional kitchen without many extra supplies, so that part is handled and leaves the food. As soon as we got home from the hospital in December, I got rid of nearly all my cookbooks and a lot of food. I gave it to friends; I donated it to the food pantry; I fed it to the dogs. (Shhh, don’t tell their vet). We went along like this for half a year, but as I grew more knowledgeable about diabetes, more clear about how tight I wanted Clara’s sugar control to be, and what it would take to get that control, I realized there was another big cleansing to do. I got rid of 27 foods from my pantry. I reorganized what was left so that the healthy no-carbs snacks were front and center. There is virtually no processed food – most everything is raw ingredients. The same can be said for the freezer. In addition, I went on a campaign to increase our vegetable consumption. I live in a town that prides itself on having fabulous grocery stores. When I looked at all the offerings, I realized that the four or five veggies we ate regularly were a pitiful selection, to say it kindly. We started having a “new veggie of the week” and I spent a fair amount of time looking for actual recipes for the vegetables, rather than just offering a choice of raw or steamed.

It wasn’t until I fully embraced a new way of eating and eliminated everything that didn’t fit with that model that I lost weight.

Of course, no one wants an illness to be the catalyst for a big pantry reorganization and diet change, but you can use these same principals in your own situation. You know what’s not good for you: get rid of it and don’t buy more. You know you need to cook at home, so rearrange your cabinets so that the supplies are easy to reach and close at hand. If you do have a special treat that’s not healthy, have one piece – heck even have half the pan – then throw it away. I know, it goes against my nature, too, or at least it used to. Now I think, “We’re not going to have anything in this house that Clara can’t eat.” It’s decluttering: keeping what is good and culling what is not. When you consider your food like everything else that comes into and leaves your house, I promise, your clutter won’t make your butt look fat.

ITEM 298 OF 365 LESS THINGS

More of those dreaded shopping bags that last forever. I have learned my lesson and will not accept any more free offers of these bags.

5 Things I am grateful for today

1. Just making it through one more day.
2. Having our daughter close.
3. For any little sign that our boy is in there just waiting until he is ready to come back to us.
4. Modern medicine – there is no way we would have made it to day four without it.
5. The other young man who came it to the ICU on the same day as Liam is making good progress against the odds.

Pets as Clutter

A guest post by Cindy Bogard

We have five pets: two dogs, one cat, two guinea pigs, and I was the decision-maker for each acquisition, but as I tripped over Tucker the dog this morning, I started thinking about the animals as clutter. I love them, and I don’t intend on getting rid of them (well, maybe the guinea pigs who have become eating, pooping nick nacks), but still I wanted to think about them in a new way: Are animals clutter?

Certainly owning animals involves clutter. The dogs have food, leashes, bowls, beds, brushes, medicine, and clippers that have to be stored, maintained, and replaced. The cat has a litter box, litter, food, bowl, toys, scratching posts, and a perch. The guinea pigs each have a very large cage, bedding, food, water bottles, and their own dust pan, which I use to scoop the bedding when I clean their cages. In all, that’s a lot of stuff.

Additionally, all the animals shed –  like crazy. Dust bunnies, hair balls, hair drifts, whatever cutesy name you give them, they’re still hair on the ground, and lots of it. (When my doggie friends Lily and Nick were living, we called their fur balls Linky, in honor of the puppies they would never have. Some of those fur balls were about as big as puppies!)  If you let your pets on the furniture, there’s hair there too and likely on your clothes as well.

In my house, one dog loves to carry around dirty socks, which he steals from the laundry basket if he doesn’t get them (almost) directly off our feet, so they are always strewn around the house. The cat tracks some of her litter out of her box every time she uses it, and her favorite toys are balls of paper, which she loves to tear apart when she “kills” them – little bits of paper all over the floor mixed in with the shed hair and the smelly socks. Even the guinea pigs create mess. They eat hay, and the children always drop some of it on the ground between the package and the cages. Wow! That’s a lot of animal debris on the ground. No wonder I sweep so often.

Animals are also expensive. This year I have spent an average of $220 per month maintaining all these mess makers. (That’s about the same in Australian dollars and about 160 Euros.) Plus, there was a very expensive eye surgery for one of the dogs. While spending or not spending money is not clutter, we all know that one of the benefits of living with less is that we buy fewer things and have more money. (Although maybe the money we don’t spend on unnecessary clothes can support a pet instead.)

How can we combat all this pet clutter? For one thing, I think you should consider your pet purchases just like everything else you bring into the home. Does your friend really need a new collar? A sweater? A new bed? If the answer is yes, then the previous collar/sweater/bed needs to be decluttered. If you know, like I did, that you will get another animal when one dies, keep their things. It’s hand-me-downs for pets. The collar and tag that Frankie wears were worn by Lily when she was living. If Frankie gets lost, I may receive a phone call from a neighbor telling me that they’ve found my dog Lily. Does it really matter if they don’t know Frankie’s name?

Additionally, many things that people buy for their pets are really for themselves. I could buy the cat lots of toys to show Stella that I love her (not that she would understand this gesture), but she really enjoys her paper balls, which I make from junk paper. Sure, she might enjoy a catnip mouse (might), but why do I need another thing on the floor when the paper balls are a sure bet, free, and always available to me?

Your pet things can be kept organized in labeled bins or baskets. Leashes can be hung by the backdoor or in the garage. Our cat is lucky enough to have a spare closet almost to herself. This is where her litter box resides, where she is fed, and where all her supplies are stored. The dogs are fed in the kitchen, and their medicines, brushes, etc. are kept in a basket in the laundry room. While the water bowl must be left out, I could pick the dogs’ food bowls up after they eat and store them with the food. If I had a very small space, this is probably what I would do.

Stella has been sitting in my lap as I’m typing, and the dogs are keeping watch over me from the floor. So, are pets clutter? Yes, they create clutter – and plenty of it – but they, themselves, are not clutter. They’re part of my family.

ITEM 297 OF 365 LESS THINGS

21st Birthday Key that my Godfather made for me. I love him dearly but this has been hiding away in cupboards for years and although I am reluctant to part with it there is no point in keeping it.

5 Things I am grateful for today

1. Friends and family around when you need them the most.
2. Hope
3. Those moments of distraction when you can feel almost like normal.
4. Good wishes from all over the world.
5. Modern communication – It is so easy to keep in touch in times of need.

Cindy has been kind enough to produce another couple of posts to keep things going here at 365less things while I watch my baby sleep. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for all your good wishes and notes of comfort. Thank you again to Cindy for helping me out at such short notice.

SWAG a guest post by Cindy Bogard

I only recently learned this term – swag. According to the Urban Dictionary it stands for Stuff We All Get, aka everything from the trinkets you get at trade shows to the really fancy gift bags that celebrities get when they attend swanky events. However you cut it, it’s goodie bags for adults.

My husband recently returned from a conference that is famous (at least in our household) for its swag. Some of it is really good (i.e. welcome) stuff, and none of it is cheap. My husband is on board with decluttering, yet he could not resist all this temptation when it was dangled (free!) in front of him. He came home with a really nice cowboy hat (we do live in Texas) and small boxes of three different gourmet foods. These I welcomed, and as far as I’m concerned, this is where the good stuff ended and the cluttering began.

There was also a realistically sized plastic dill pickle that yodels (what in the world??), a very handsome box embossed with the name of the conference and filled with poker chips, dice, and cards (useful, but not to us), a handsome gold-tone pin engraved with his name that commemorates the 15th anniversary of this conference (useless), a belt buckle commemorating this conference from a previous year (useless again, and why did he take it?),  a t-shirt commemorating the conference (he has eight of these now but does wear them to work) and a t-shirt with electronics built into it in that can be played like a decent-sounding electronic guitar (truly horrible, but he loves it). In previous years, he’s brought home stuffed animals and sea monkey kits for the girls, a large lap blanket emblazoned with the name of the conference, another cowboy hat, a BBQ tool set, an engraved flask, and more food treats.

When I raised my eyebrows nearly to my hairline and asked what he was going to do with some of this stuff, specifically the yodeling pickle, the pin and the belt buckle, here’s what he said, “The pickle will make a great white elephant gift, but unless I want to make a shrine to commemorate BBQ (the name of the conference), I don’t know what I’ll do with the other stuff.” Hmmm. It’s sitting in a neat pile on his worktable, I see, and I predict it will sit for the remainder of this year, at least.

While I’m being grumpy about my husband bringing home obviously useless things (at least in my eyes), in post 188 Colleen lamented accepting free items that are useful, but that you really don’t need or want. These, too, are abundant in my life. Free reusable tote bags, which Colleen calls enviro bags, are the new rage, as well as t-shirts commemorating practically any event. (My husband owns 50 t-shirts, but that’s a story for another post.) Pens, letter openers, even business cards and literature pressed upon you when you know you don’t want them are all swag, or trash, depending on your point of view.

While I’m feeling very negative about this worthless stuff, I decided to take a 5 minute stroll around my house and see what I could find that was a freebie but is being actively used in our daily life. Surely there would be something. Here’s what I found:

• A chip clip
• A grippy jar opener
• Two mousepads
• Numerous pens and pencils
• A tube of lip balm
• The light on my husband’s key chain
• Address labels and note pads from charities hoping for a donation (although I have so many of these that they’re boarding on being junk)
• A small screwdriver set that’s useful for battery cases and eye glasses
• A coffee mug from my husband’s business (although I’m hoping this will experience “natural decluttering” someday soon)

Although the production of unwanted goods is an environmental concern, in terms of clutter, the problem isn’t businesses offering us this stuff.  The problem is that we accept it. My girlfriend DeeDee recently moved to a new neighborhood. She reported, “I declined the Welcome Wagon bag of junk (coupons, brochures, phone book), and they thought that I was so mean!” I reminded her that you’re never mean when you politely decline what you do not want. Heck, it leaves them with more for the next person who might love a sack full of coupons and such.

Next time you’re entering a trade show, going to an open house, or attending a store grand opening, look at what they hand you, and hand it right back if you know it’s not for useful to you.

ITEM 296 OF 365 LESS THINGS

Another useless item that will never be used by me because it can’t even fit a toothbrush in.

5 Things I am grateful for today

1. That my house is neat and tidy and I don’t have to worry about it at this trying time.
2. Family who surprised us with a visit and helping keep our spirits up.
3. The wonderful staff in the ICU look out our my boy
4. The nice people we have met who are sadly in a similar situation to ours. It is nice to have someone to talk to who knows what we are going through.
5. Any progress our son makes sometime it is one step forward two steps back but he is holding his own while we just keep our fingers crossed.