Daily Declutter

Today is the last day of school! I'm so excited for summer, and I'm so excited to be done with the responsibilities of school for a while. We have a full schedule, but once school is over it lightens up a lot -- we don't have to leave the house early, I don't have to have packed or packable lunches, I don't have to nag people to complete and turn in homework.

I was feeling motivated to declutter something today. I can't deal with my daughter's desk in the kitchen (and the lunch bags lying around, and the general mess she has created) until school gets out. But I tackled the wrapping supplies I have had under the bed. Under the bed is a storage space that keeps stuff out of the way, but it still looks messy to me, having a plastic tote peeking out. Especially since my bedroom is situated so I can see it from the kitchen. I finally looked through that tote, and I found that it was full of stuff that I don't use, and things I will probably never use. I had three rolls of plain wrapping paper -- but I don't wrap things in paper, I use reusable gift bags. Those paper rolls have been there literally for years, and I have had to keep the large storage tote to fit those rolls that I never use. In the next week or two I will decorate these blank rolls and they will be included in the "everything you need to wrap Christmas presents" gifts I give to 4H leaders and people like that. The wrap will be both used and gone.

Getting rid of the tote under the bed is pretty exciting to me. The remainder of the gift wrap went into an adorable vintage suitcase, and it is now living in the bottom of my closet, looking cute. I was planning to use a vintage hatbox suitcase, but that was fiddly to open and sort of odd-smelling on the inside. I decided to let that go to someone who will enjoy it exclusively for its exterior, and it is off to the thrift shop.

I also spent a couple hours weeding. Does weeding count as decluttering?