Cleaning

                      
I was doing the laundry today (begrudgingly) and I went into my daughters room to find a hanger so I could hang up her tops. As I was looking for one in her closet, I realized that she had all of these clothes that she never wears. Nice clothes that she won't put on for whatever reason "Too plain", "not pretty enough", "Makes my arms feel weird." I am tired of seeing them. I started pulling them out and putting them in a pile, and then I went to my closet and pulled out my clothes. Pants that I haven't worn in 3 years but I keep around on the off chance that I'll become a size 2 again, shorts that give me camel toe, tops that look like a homeless person would reject them. They went into the pile. I went to the linen closet and pulled curtains and sheets that are old. I have torn, bleach stained sheets that are thread bare that don't even get used just sit in the closet. The kids looked at me like I was crazy. "Mom, what are you doing with that stuff?" "Giving it away- all of it. We have too much stuff." Truly it is shameful. I am so busy that I don't have time to organize or do deep cleaning and I like and want to be organized. The house is making me crazy. I couldn't take it any more. I went on a house cleaning rampage. These are the things that I found:

-Approximately 8 empty containers of laundry detergent because every time I run out, I don't feel like bringing them down.

- A basket with batteries, hairbands, cough drops, a random crayon. Just hanging out together on the top of the fridge.

- Shoes that my daughter grew out of 18 months ago.

- A guitar pick in the silverware drawer - along with 2 non-working can openers.

- A ziplock bag full of birthday candles. I had a number "5" candle from my daughters birthday that I obviously thought I was going to save until my husband turns 35 (which is not for 4.5 years).

- Wasabi paste that expired in 2008. Jello that expired in 2010. French fried onions that expired in 2011. A huge jar of applesauce that expired in 2012.

- Behind the jar of applesauce I discovered a tupperware container of chili. I am pretty sure it was made in April.

- One of my kids cloth diapers. We have been out of diapers for 5 years.

- 6 random rolls of wrapping paper.

- A raincoat my daughter grew out of 2 years ago.

- Lids to pots and pans that I no longer own. What happened to the pots and pans? I do not know.

- A box of wires and adapters that have no electronics to go to them.

- A checkbook with our old address from a house I haven't lived in for 3 years.

- Water bottles with no lids.

I could go on and on. It would literally be easier for me to just move into a new house and start from scratch. How did this happen? The night is still young and there is still much to be done. Who knows what is left to discover? I wish I could find a bag of money instead of all this junk.