It multiples when no one is looking. It expands to occupy all available space. It leaves you wanting more. It is stuff, or more commonly known as clutter!

With children, this problem can be compounded times the number of offspring. Stuff crammed into drawers, under beds and threatening to spill out into other living areas.

It seems no one can escape this bug!

Stuff breeds more stuff and that, in turn, breeds an uncontrollable urge for more stuff. (“Stuff” also applies to homeschool curriculum, which multiplies in its’ very own way!)

I had succumbed to this bug. I had stuff coming out of my ears. But it wasn’t enough. I wanted more stuff. In fact, I believed I was entitled to more stuff.

Why?

Well, why not?

We were bursting at the seams in our small, but paid-for home. I tried to convince my husband we needed to move pronto because the rest of us didn’t have room for all our stuff.

He offered this insightful solution, “Get rid of some of that stuff!”

Part with some of my stuff? No way!

Figuring that I needed to reach a compromise, I began reading through organizing articles and talking to my clutter-free friends. I received the usual “If you haven’t used it in the last year, get rid of it” advice. But, it was so hard to think of getting rid of things that we might need in the future, even though it’s just sitting on the shelf now.

The most thought and heart provoking advice came from a frugal, clutter free mother of 10, who said, “If God gave me something once, and if I need it in the future, He’ll give it to me again.”

Her advice propelled me into action. I knew this mother of 10 received frequent hand-me downs from friends. However, her house is clutter free. She sorts it and makes monthly Goodwill runs to bless others with her excess.

I began purging my closet, then moved on to the toy area, books and more. When I was done with this little bit, I had two sizable hauls of things to give to others. And that was just the beginning!

Even this dent into the stuff made us feel lighter and freer. Not to mention that since there was less stuff in the house, it was easier to keep clean.

So, the moral of this story is that an abundance of stuff doesn’t bless your household or positively add to your home’s atmosphere. As you partake in your spring cleaning this year, give serious thought to whether or not you really need all that stuff.

Freely it has been given to you, freely give it away!

Check out a wide variety of homeschool products at Rainbow Resource!