June 12, 2007

Out With The Old

I got lotsa junk!

Between clothes we’ve outgrown, toys we’re tired off, velvet pictures of dogs playing poker, and a gazillion crocheted blankets from great grandma’s second cousin…..I’ve got plenty to get rid of. But what usually happens is that I look at it, think about getting rid of it, and then stuff it back into the bowels of the cupboard from whence it came.

I’m constantly hearing, “Mom, I don’t want this jewelry box anymore.” Or “Mom, this shirt doesn’t fit me anymore.” And, either one of two things happens;

I have no place to put it so it piles up in a corner somewhere


Or I find it tossed out of a bedroom door and laying in the middle of my hallway.


So, one day I got sick and tired.

I put two big bins in my laundry room and lined them with garbage bags. One is labeled Goodwill and the other is labeled to go to our local consignment shop. Whenever I come across something that I’m ready to get rid off, I march it down to the laundry room and toss it in the Goodwill bucket. Every time I fold the laundry and find that shirt that just doesn’t fit anymore and that I would normally just fold and make the kids put away AGAIN, I toss it into the consignment bucket. When the buckets are full I pull the garbage bag out, plop it into the back of the suburban and drop it off where it belongs.

I’m thinking this is a downright genius plan, right?

So, Please don’t burst my bubble and tell me you’ve been doing this for years. It’s taken me 13 years of marriage, 11 years of parenting, and numerous exhausted brain cells to pull this one out of my magical mommy hat.

Just work with me, people!

*****For more genius ideas that you’ve probably been doing anyway, go check out Rocks In My Dryer.

12 comments:

Cherish the Home said...

This is an EXCELLENT idea! Thanks for sharing. (o:

Blessings,
~Mrs.B

Melissa Stover said...

it's news to me! a great idea, if only i had a bigger laundry room. maybe i can find some corner to squeeze in two boxes. maybe i could if i got rid of some junk.

Anonymous said...

You are right...this is sheer genius! I wouldn't have room in my laundry room, but I have a storage room off of the eaves that would work just fine, serving the same function. Thanks for posting this.

Nikki said...

Great idea! And it reminds me of how much junk I need to get rid of.

Cindy-Still His Girl said...

Genius! Genius, I say! I'm going to do it TODAY. I was half-way there. I make lots of piles for goodwill and consignment, but those piles are in a few different rooms and just sit there and sit there like they're waiting for me to do something with them. You should write a book, you're so brilliant.

Mom2fur said...

Having one central location for give-aways is nothing short of brilliant! I have to do this...there are outgrown clothes all over the place here!

Caroline said...

My problem is I need fewer bins! We just took four bags to Goodwill yesterday, and cleaned out an entire dumpster of garbage from our garage. Also have a pile in the middle for Saturdays impromptu garage sale. What doesn't go gets the dumpster.

Anonymous said...

I use boxes. The trash bag idea is great. Then you can close it up and you (or in my case the kids) are not tempted to look through and pull things back out.

Sharon aka Momn4boys

Cherie Nelson said...

This is really a fantastic idea!!! Now I just need to find a place to put them in!

ConservaChick said...

This is GREAT! I'm gonna steal this idea, share it with my woman's group and pretend it's my own! ~Karlie

Anonymous said...

I don't have room in my laundry room, but I keep a bag in my walk-in closet for the give-aways. If I didn't keep it in there, my young sons would steal back the outgrown clothes! :)
Getting the stuff INTO the back isn't a problem; getting those bags OUT of my van is another story. I'll put them in the back and they ride there for WEEKS! lol

Amy said...

Great idea. I'm still saving kids' clothes for more children, but there are a whole lot of other items we could certainly donate to a better cause than taking up space in our house!

Thanks for the tip!

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