One Less Thing...

     I do not know how it happened.  I do not even remember a turning point.  I just know that it happened and I have been taken over. 
     When I was in college, I lived in a 900 square foot, two bedroom, two bathroom apartment.  I had a tiny dining room table and just the basics.  A bed for myself, a bed in the guest room, a sofa...well you get the idea.  I have pictures from that time and I can even remember what my apartment was like, but it seems so foreign now. 
    Now, I am overwhelmed.  I am sorting through things.  I am trying to get rid of as much as possible in preparation for a move in the future.  It seems to be never ending.  There is really so much stuff.  I have tools for every possible need.  I have craft gadgets galore.  I have sorted, resorted and put items aside that must go.  Every day, someone walks by a box, pulls something out and insists that we cannot live without that particular item.  I am exasperated.  How did we become so needy?  If all of these gadgets, tools and extras are so important, how did I survive without them twenty years ago? 
    The answer is simply.  CHILDREN. The days when you could simply bring a child home with just a few items of clothing, bottles and diapers are gone.  Now you must have an approved car seat, a 17 position high chair, a super silent battery operated swing, a bouncy seat, a bassinet, a crib, wipe warmer, diaper disposal unit, changing table... I could go on forever. We doubled our household goods when we had a 7 1/2lb child.
    And so it began... after the cribs, wipes, sippy cups and other gear, we moved up to preschool items.  The table that converted into an art easel, the swing set with safety seats so the children did not fly off to Kansas when we pushed them... okay, a bit of an exaggeration, but it made me giggle.  We purchased booster seats for our dining room, a booster seat for travelling to places with less than sparkling booster seats. (WHY were we eating at places with dirty booster seats?)  Plastic shoe boxes filled with fat crayons, fun dough, stacking blocks and other preschool appropriate toys.... it just goes on and on. 
    Now the big one.  We have GIRLS. This means lots of clothes and accessories.  We don't just have a pair of shoes, we have sandals, flip flops, white dress shoes, black dress shoes, brown loafers, tennis shoes and whatever else can be marketed to girls.  We have millions of hair accessories, tights, hats and purses.    If you have sons, please do NOT tell me how many shoes your son has, unless you just WANT to hear me let out a little whimper. 
   I have girls who also like science and bugs and outdoor things. This means I have dolls, stuffed animals, a remote control dragonfly, a remote control dinosaur, Knex, jewelry and of course, the greatest evil ever created, Barbie and her teeny tiny shoes that somehow puncture the soles of adult feet.
   I have been getting rid of things daily. I am serious. I have a mission.  I am going to live more simply. I am going to have an easy move.  I'm not kidding.  Do you sense the desperation?  I envision myself duck taped to a rock with a fishing pole.. I am trying desperately to reel the line in, only to discover that this is some sort of horrific fishing pole with three lines pulling in different directions at the same time.
    I am from a military family.  I can reduce. I can pack.  I have had the most organized moves ever.  My last move I actually still managed to have inventory lists taped to the outside of each box.  I'm not yet ready to simply toss things in bins and hope we eventually find everything.  I am not yet ready to treat our move like a scavenger hunt. 
   Thank God we are not moving just yet.  I still have time.... I just need to get rid of a few more things...