Part 3: The Rubber Meets the Road

(to read Part 1, click here. to read Part 2, click here.)
Recently I posted a question on Facebook asking my fellow moms how they deal with “clothing wars” with their kids. Most moms gave great ideas and advice (which we probably will try eventually) but there were a few moms in particular that wanted to get to the bottom of the issue. They asked if there was too much stuff in her room, maybe she’s overwhelmed? Are there obedience issues that need to be recognized, behavior that needs to be addressed, beyond clothing? So that night I sat in Katelynn’s room looking at all her clothes, toys, and STUFF. And realized that I was doing it to her! I was teaching her to be comfortable in a mess, to be okay with STUFF. We could organize it anyway we wanted to, get fancy organizers with cute labels, but in the end there was just too much stuff. No wonder she was having issues with picking up after herself!

That night (after an unproductive discussion about where we were going to put the baby) was when I found Peter’s book online. After reading it, I am now sadly, painfully, but fully aware of what I have allowed to happen in my home. Not only with the space that the stuff is taking up, which is less space for my family to enjoy, but the habits and lifestyle that I am teaching my children. And it stops now. It has to. It may be a gradual change, but anything worth doing right is worth doing well. (I have to recognize it didn’t get this way overnight, it won’t change overnight!) I want my family to value the LIFE we live in our home, not the stuff. But as it is right now, there’s not a lot of space to live LIFE. My “space budget” is out of whack and needs some major overhauling. There are going to be a lot of hard decisions to make, but Peter’s book helps guide you through them. He doesn’t say you have to throw anything away – just like Dave Ramsey doesn’t tell you what and how to spend your money. But Peter helps cast vision for what you WANT and then offers tools to get you there. You then have to decide if you or your stuff will determine how that space is used.

In the next few posts I’ll start listing which rooms are having to come to light with their realistic space budgets and the decisions we're making about them!