Weekend Pics from Parenting in the Loop

Spices of Life

 

I am really into decluttering. But I find it a totally frustrating experience at best. Devoting any of my precious hard earned time on any given Saturday or Sunday is definitely not something I relish.

Do you feel the same way?

OR…

Are you already super organized?

OR

Are you a weekend warrior and love projects like these?

I loved this post in the New York Times. Both of these women and their approaches appeal to me. So I am already stuck, when it comes to organizing my kitchen space.

Two Cooks, Two Kitchens, Two Organizing Plans

Do different cooks need different approaches to organizing the kitchen?

I wasn’t the only one who was feeling the need for a kitchen makeover. Margaux Laskey, my partner in the Kids Cook column, was having similar thoughts. Although we’re both working parents who love to cook, we’re in different places in our lives: She’s the mother of a baby and a preschooler, while my kids are older (9, 10, 11 and 14). Her kitchen is small, mine is the big country version. Did we also need different approaches to a kitchen clean-out?

On one hand I don’t think I could stand to have everything out of my cabinets and exposed so it would be hard for me to choose the first plan. On the other hand I like the outcome even if it took almost 10 days to achieve.

The second approach is more appealing because there seems to be a more immediate gratification in having one part of my kitchen organized even if it is just the spice cabinet.

Neither one of these is a weekend project for me.

Over the years I have tried decluttering and one of the things I simplified was my wardrobe. That was about 15 years ago and at this point it is in severe need of a revisit.

Our house has been the home at any given time for 4 generations of our family and we have only lived here for 20 or so years. There are many things that evoke memories of times and people gone by. It is not so easy to “dispose” of these memory charged things. It feels like I am actually throwing away my past even though I know that it not true.

I love the fact that I can take photos of the things before I give them away and those photos can be store readily stored on my computer literally forever. I know my mother would not want me to be a slave to saving her things unless it was something that brought me true joy when I wore it or looked at it. I have to keep this in mind.

I can truly tell you I will not be decluttering this weekend since I prefer to procrastinate.

What will you be doing?