Life With Less

I've been reading minimalist blogs again, and dreaming of a life with less stuff.  Inspired, I went through a kitchen drawer after one post (determining that I NEED a drawer organizer thingy to keep my whisk and potato masher from becoming entwined), cleaned out a cupboard, and cleared all the counters.  I liked that advice, to clear off all the counters in the kitchen.  It's a small kitchen, and it looks like there is way more space now.  I put all the stuff I never use in the guest room- a holding place for a few months to determine if I miss anything terribly.  Then I get to make another trip to Goodwill!

As my sister (who recently visited) can attest, I'm really not a minimalist.  I have a lot of stuff.  Can you be a minimalist with 4-5 kids?  I have a lot of books, and a lot of blankets.  Boxes full of my husband's stuff (I'm not sure what exactly is in them), boxes of cds and vhs tapes, many boxes of clothes, and lots of swimming and beach paraphernalia.  So, I'm not a minimalist.  But can I call myself an "aspiring minimalist"?  I hope to eventually clear my closets of most of it.  Except the kids' clothes.  It's too valuable to me to be able to pass them down.  But they can certainly have less of them :).

On that note, we have pared down for Christmas this year.  No toys, just useful things the boys will appreciate.  This comes after my frustration of having bought toys for birthdays that were used for a couple of weeks and then never touched again.  The toy drawers are hardly touched, except to pull out everything in search of more cars.  I'm now an advocate for games and other things/activities that promote family involvement/time together.  And I adore the idea of experiences as gifts (unfortunately, most of the ones I would give are out of our price range right now).  Someday.