If I know about it I take puzzles with one or two pieces missing because we lose pieces. The losing parts of sets drives me insane. Snap circuits and tinker toys were so loved but are gone because of that.
I hope you find a system.
4 Likes
Iāve been trying to track down pieces for two weeks and I am so close to just chucking it.
5 Likes
This is a gift to ask for! I did this last Christmas (asked my parents to help me declutter). Hope your mom can help outāor at least not add to your stress.
9 Likes
I have been finding things recently purchased that I ultimately do not have use for and adding them to the returns pile. A vacuum flask and a dish drainer were most recent victims to be returned to IKEA this week. Under cabinet baskets and a 3 tier shelving system that didnāt fit the cabinet are already in the car for an afterwork returns run.
I need to remember to take down the curtains in my bedroom and I can go to Ollieās for another return run on Tuesday.
12 Likes
I do not have a 7yo. But I just read a newsletter about using [insert your winter gifting holidays here] as a time to say thank you to the toys we donāt play with anymore and then imagine them going to a new kid, the way Andy gives his toys to Bonnie in Toy Story 3.
13 Likes
Ooo that seems very sweet.
4 Likes
I spent an hour or two last night going through some piles of clothes & what I could reach in the closet. I bagged a bunch to be donated (or brought to a clothing swap) and filled a bag of tank tops/under shirts that donāt fit anymore. I know one of the local orgs is collecting clean, used underthings so Iām going to reach out to them about the tank tops.
9 Likes
Had an espresso - that gets me motivated!
Purged 25 clothing items - sweaters, dresses, dress shirt, blazer. Packed up 2 boxes to send things out. Embarrassingly, Xmas card and gift to a friend from last year, and a box of work branded stuff to a friend of stuff I know she wanted.
Folder holders also leaving the house, and a framed article to the trash.
All donated stuff and packages heading out the door in 15 min as SO is going to run out with it for me.
11 Likes
We keep a random toys box of little doodads, party favors, & stuff the kids donāt care a ton about. The idea was to clear it out periodically.
I cleaned it out this morning, trashed the trash, and picked out the nicer things to combine with some kid-friendly snacks to make āroad trip packsā. Hot item on the Buy Nothing group this week!
16 Likes
Thatās a brilliant idea. My children routinely stop liking one of the flavors of Costco packs after previously loving them.
5 Likes
A very large snake plant Iāve had for many years went to a friend. Unfortunately, it had been gifted to us by a relative who went on to prove themselves to be a massive shit bag, and I canāt unsee it when I look at the plant 
friend is an accomplished Plant Lady though and will treasure it. I probably couldāve sold it in the $50-$100 (or more??) range, considering itās size and pot, but it feels much better to know itās going to someone who will love it.
18 Likes
I hate when shitty people ruin things for us. Iām glad you were able to find a good solution.
6 Likes
year books from elementary school and high school
I feel like maybe if I had kids, it might make sense to keep them, but as it is, nobody is going to go through that pile and flip through and be interested, theyāre just going to put it into the paper recycling pile.
the old āthey donāt take up much spaceā, but I canāt imagine weād prioritize them in any future move.
8 Likes
I tossed yearbooks a while ago. I did read the notes written by all of the āBest Friends Foreverā people who I havenāt seen in the 37 years since before I got rid of them though. 
8 Likes
I saw one of them less than a month ago 
4 Likes
I moved mine 8 times, but I finally decided this year not to hold on to them. And I was on the yearbook staff and editor in chief my senior year. I took a couple of pictures of articles or pictures I was featured in. That said, if you arenāt ready to get rid of them yet, they arenāt hurting anything by staying around!
5 Likes
Iāve kept a lot of yearbooks and photo books in spite of decluttering. One thing I noticed in nursing, working with seniors, is how often you end up unable to access other forms of media. So I really do want a few sources of ātwilight of my lifeā accessible nostalgia to share that I can access without fussing for 45 min and getting frustrated that it wonāt work or I donāt remember how to work it anyway, just a perspective of someone opting to keep some physical nostalgia books.
10 Likes
my dad is really leaning into print at the moment, which is interesting because he was such an early adopter of digital photography, and now heās doing micro run photo books, not of family or events, but of things that caught his eye, or connect to his broader faith and philosophy.
Heās really been pushing for me to do something similar with my bird photography, because he knows people wonāt go back through the thousands of files, but they might leaf through 50 pages of photos.
12 Likes
Thatās exactly it. And Iāve seen the pattern enough Iām trying to be conscious of that as I age. Balance my āburn it allā tendencies with a gift/plan for future self, should I be lucky enough to get real old.
8 Likes
I binned my high school yearbooks as soon as my mom died (they were in her house). Interesting that they seemed so important at the time but soon became irrelevant to me.
6 Likes