Single Mom at Work
with Karli Larson
The transition from stay-at-home mom to divorced-and-working-full-time mom can be challenging, and sometimes very lonely. Throw in a few cats, an ancient dog and one very brave boyfriend, and life gets downright crazy. Join me as I talk through my thoughts and struggles, my miscalculations and my triumphs. We're in this together, you and I.
When I'm not writing here you can find me over at work on the TisBest Philanthropy blog.
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Lordy, lordy. Look at this MESS.
I don’t recall much of the time when my ex moved out. It’s a blur, a terrible gray blur. I know my ex took the couch and the good pots and pans and the guest bed and some bedding. But for the most part, STUFF stayed HERE. I mean a basement full of the detritus of a decade of marriage and a few more years of co-habitation. Boxes of books, receipts and taxes. Broken furniture we’d once hoped to repair. Bins of baby clothes. The old crib. Toys and games, long outgrown.
It’s taken me a long time to shake off the sentimental attachment to all of these things. But for almost a year now, I’ve been in the process of the Great Purge of 2011. The enclosed back porch and half the kitchen have been staging areas for all of the crap that must go. The unearthing of the stuff that’s no longer needed is the easy part; the sorting and ejecting from the house is the dastardly, difficult part of the job. I’d hoped that the Great Purge of 2011 would be done by now — uh, it’s not. I had grandiose plans for a massive yard sale this past summer (not that we have a front yard, but we’re good at improvising), but the more I purged, the more I found to purge.
The upstairs hallway is the latest victim of the Purge. It’s lined with stuffed animals, old clothes, baby dolls, Barbie castles, children’s books. Even the cats need to squeeze by, to make it to the litter box. We are all becoming quite nimble, living in the obstacle course we call home.
Spring 2012 is the target date now. My resources?
Freecycle (it’s amazing what folks are looking for)
Vietnam Vets (they’ll come and haul away lots of things, including electronics)
Goodwill (we’ve been dragging bags of clothes there, a little at a time)
Sanford & Kid (a local antique store and thrift shop — they’ll take away the old furniture and whatever else is left behind, at the very end of the Purge.
I wish there were a Rapture for unneeded, unwanted items. ScheduleARapture.com. Hmm. I may be onto something.
2012: The Blank Slate. I can’t wait.
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I know I can get sentimentally attached to stuff, and not want to get rid of it, but whenever I’ve done purges of the house, I find that within two days I don’t even remember what I gave away, or care about it. Out with the old!
Neil | November 2nd, 2011 at 7:22 pm
Jenn, you can do it! As a mom myself I know how things can accumulate and before you know it, you’re overwhelmed. I write a blog about feng shui, and I totally believe in the power of decluttering for healing and moving on in life. When we get rid of stuff we cut energetic ties to the past. It can be hard, but you are at an advantage by having some success under your belt and your goal in mind.
Jessica Hoelzel | November 7th, 2011 at 4:46 pm
GOOD FOR YOU! As a professional organizer we see this everyday - folks working their way through YEARS of “stuff”. Keep up the hard work, stay the course… you are an inspiration!
Anne Steppe
http://www.simplicity-organizers.com
Anne Steppe | February 14th, 2012 at 7:52 am