Tags
cleaning, crappy people, declutter, family, home repair, house, kids, motherhood, parenting, repairs
My house is poor. It is bad condition. Part of the reason is because it was in bad condition when I bought it, but another part is a lack of money for repairs. Additionally, since I work and manage everything, I have very little time to just clean. Certain things must be done daily like dishes and laundry. Animals must be fed. The trash must be dumped.
Then there are seasonal chores like cleaning the chimney, yard maintenance, wood cutting and splitting, gardening, canning, and so much more. Doing all of this while working and trying to teach my son leaves very little time for much else. You wouldn’t believe it with how much I write, but truly I can bust out a blog post in a spare 15 minutes or less depending. I have two AI programs to help me with grammar and spelling.
My husband and I have come to the agreement that decluttering must occur. We are not minimalists. However, we have enough things for a large family and it is literally just us three now. Over the past year, I have significantly downsized many things. I got rid of trash bags of clothing, boxes of food, boxes of dishes, and so much more.
Well, it has come time to downsize even further. We decided to get rid of the Xbox and some other electronics just hanging out. We are still going through clothing. I found crib sheets of all things! Do you know how long it has been since I had a crib in this house? I thought at first it was my daughter’s and took it to her and she said, no they were her baby brother’s crib sheets from 14 years ago! She did take them for her own children though.
I never get rid of anything useful because I can’t stand waste. That doesn’t mean I am not wasteful. Some people would argue I am, but I just can’t throw something away if it has some use or can be mended easily or cheaply. I have a coat I bought in 2003 still that has a zipper that doesn’t work now. It’s thin and the lining is threadbare. It’s just about time to get rid of it, but every time I think of doing it…I can’t. I can see it being fully functional if I just replace the zipper. I don’t know if it is strong enough to take a zipper change or not though, as it is threadbare. If it is, I plan to fix that and keep it for another 20 years if possible.
I know most people wouldn’t bother. I paid $230 for it with taxes. I have gotten more than my fair amount of use out of it from a financial standpoint. However, it’s comfy. I moved into my own first house in that coat. I was pregnant with my first son in that coat. It was the first thing I threw on as I whisked out the door to feed the chickens until recently. It’s worn in the way I like it although it isn’t as warm as it used to be. I just can’t explain other than it’s my fuzzy coat and losing it would make me sad.
There are certain things I am quick to give away though. Clothing that doesn’t fit anyone goes quickly. Food that we have an oversupply of I am happy to unload. I mean as in we have enough for present and enough for the next year put back in the pantry. Bed clothes that do not fit any beds in the house, like crib sheets.
I give away all the plastic dishes that make their way to my house. I had an entire daycare worth of children’s plastic dish sets (30 plates, cups, spoons, forks, and bowls) that I gave to my daughter for her kids. I got it originally so I could run the feeding program for the reading program one summer. It only cost 30 dollars to me. Some would say that was wasteful. I considered it charity. I fed about 30 kids once a week for the entire summer. I paid for all the food and only got some money towards the pizza party on the last day. I did all the dishes in my dish washer on sanitize so it was all good. When the program was over, I gave my daughter the dishes for her munchkins.
I say all this to explain the scope of my house issues. It’s not just cleaning or bad repair. It is decluttering 20 years of my life. My kids love to rag on me for the house. In fact, I have heard a lot of people say some pretty nasty things. That is all just to say they have opinions. What I noticed is not one picked up a broom, offered to help pay for my porch to be fixed or my bathroom, or even offered their labor if we bought the parts. Nope.
You know what that says to me? It says a lot about who they are as a person for sure, and it is not good things. If you want to critisize people, make sure you offer a helping hand to get them out of the shit hole they are in…otherwise all you are is someone that likes to shit on other people to make your own self feel better. That means, my house isn’t the problem, but your shit attitude and low self confidence is the problem. Anyone that looks down on someone for a problem they could help with has no place in my life. Don’t critisize unless you intend to offer help or support in some way.
As I used to say to kids that teased me for what my parents dressed me in, “If you don’t like my clothes then why don’t you buy me new ones?” The retort was usually, “That ain’t my job” My reply was, “It’s none of your damn business what I wear then.” That usually shut the little bastards up.