Do you have some thing in your life that just brings out the worst? Something that hangs over your head, or nags at you, or makes you irritable? I have several of those things. And when they all converge, let me tell you: it’s not pretty.

As you can see from the “sharp image”, he is excited to put his clothes away!

Laundry makes me so ornery. Like SOO ornery. Especially the children’s clothes. It is endless, and putting clothes away is a mess. They never stay in their drawer or on their shelf, let alone folded and stacked neatly. So I lost it! I sat Mister and Tudders down and asked them to pick out 8, EIGHT, of their favorite shirts, four pairs of shorts, and one jacket or sweatshirt, and packed the rest of the clothes away. Can you say simplified?? I love it. Their laundry is manageable, because if i don’t do it, there are no clothes. But doing laundry for them consists of 16 little tops and 8 little bottoms, and they can gather the clean clothes in their arms and put them away. The aren’t fighting clothes left in the drawers (that were never worn anyway) to shove in the newly cleaned clothes. It’s an empty space, waiting for clean clothes. It’s tough to mess up and it’s been ah-maz-ing!

Or what about that one toy? or those five toys? or just the ones that make noise? My sweet grandma (the boys’ great grandma) gave them a book with a little 14-key keyboard attached for Christmas one year. Inside the book there were songs that were meant to be played on the little keyboard. I think the idea was learn a new song, and a skill, and spend quality time together around the teeny tiny keys. You think that happened? Nope. Not even once. It was a cheap keyboard, with a less than robust tone, a source of constant contention, and then the endless requests for mom to play. I know, on a very simplistic level, how to read notes, and to say I play the piano is quite a stretch, so the boys would become impatient with my halting plunking, and get upset. Oh the fun. And wouldn’t you know? I lost it. Once that piano book disappeared, all of that irritation went too!

When toys come to our home by means of purchase, gifts, donations, or hand me downs, it’s not long until the batteries “die”. I just don’t handle the artificial noise well, the beeping and ringing, the repetitive phrases and melodies. It puts me on edge. But my children love these toys, and we are grateful for them! And fortunately they continue to love them, even when they suddenly stop making noise.

Or today, the froggie sandbox. It’s great. The boys love it. They always ask to play in it. I often say no. Today I told them they could. There wasn’t a boisterous breeze (last time that was a nightmare), they both had easy to clean shoes, it was time for a bath anyway, so why not. We went over some of the basic rules: don’t throw the sand at each other, or on each other’s heads, or in clothes, keep the sand relatively in the sandbox and don’t track it inside. OK, so maybe I’m an unrealistic mom, but those are my stipulations for playing in the sand. A sandy floor makes me crazy and screaming from sand in the eyes breaks my heart. So I set us all up for failure.

And of course, it was. Why wouldn’t it be? They are 4 and 2.

I was so pleased with myself: I had “loosened up” a little and was letting them play in the sand and it wasn’t too long until I was upset that playing in the sand went just how anyone would expect it to go. I was upset with the boys, and it only got worse. They found the hose and then we had muddy sand and wet clothes, which soon led to wet, cold, naked children. I should have just bundled them up in towels, drawn a nice warm bath, washed off the sand and my grouchiness, but I didn’t. I was frustrated, but some of that frustration was with myself because I was so upset. I don’t want to be frustrated when my children play, I don’t want to be on edge when they are having fun, I don’t want to always tell them “no” because I know playing with whatever it may be will only lead to crossness. So I lost it. I decided we would be giving the frog sandbox away. We’ll give it to another mother who is better equipped to dealing with the inevitable that comes with sand. Give it to someone who will enjoy it and we can enjoy other things outside that won’t make this mom a monster.

We all have things that just nag at us, bring out the worst in us, or just keep up from being extraordinary. It was freeing to go through our baking utensils and get rid of duplicates, items we got from somewhere and were keeping out of obligation or for a “what if we need it” day, things that hadn’t been used in the last 6 months, and donate them. Same with tupperware, with shoes, with my clothes (although I allowed myself more than eight shirts), with pens and pencils, with cords and old electronics, with the stack of papers that pile up because I’m suppose to do something with them. Get rid of it. Let it go. Find a place and a use for it or let it find a place somewhere else. Let someone else get the benefit from it. Don’t let things hold you down. Do you need to donate some dishes so there are less in the sink? Do it! Do you need to pass on some books so your shelves are overflowing? Pass those babies on! Being weighed down by things that bring out the worst in you doesn’t do anyone any good. We are better than our things make us out to be. Take steps to give yourself the greatest chance at being the most amazing person that you are!

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