I want to declutter, but it’s so overwhelming. I pull everything out of a closet, and just as I begin to rearrange, someone needs me. Fast forward three months, and I’m still tripping over the innards of my closet.

Big projects are clearly not going to happen in the near future.

So I have new plan. I will get rid of 365 things this year. One for each day. But I don’t have to do it every day. Say I clean out my closet, and get rid of 15 things—I can be done for two weeks! If I fall behind, I can pull a bag of stuff together.

I’m contemplating the caveat that if I buy something for myself, I need to get rid of one thing as well, which would be in addition to the 365 things. This may be too complicated for my tired brain, so I’m still mulling it over.

I’m going to keep track of my things here. I know. Yawning can commence…NOW.

I’m trying to throw as few things as I can away. Most items are being donated via FreeCycle, Goodwill, or our local family resource center.

JANUARY
1. A big blue ceramic bowl that matches nothing we own.
2. A shall-remain-nameless children’s book that causes nothing but trouble every time we read it.
3–5. Three books I have read which were mediocre at best.
6–14. Nine kitchen utensils I hate that make our containers overcrowded and unusable.
15. One bag of chewy pencil tips I ordered when the Oldest wouldn’t stop chewing on everything (but promptly lost).
16. Framed poster I have been hanging onto since my early 20s.
17. Red stool.
18. Several unrelated tension rods.
19. Doctor dress-up outfit that is a little creepy. (It’s for kids, people!)
20. Ancient rubber water bottle.
21. Jenga (a duplicate).
22. Yahtzee (another duplicate).
23. Bizarre collection of unrelated hats and gloves.
24. Two picture frames.
25—26. Two crib mattresses.
27. Baby bath tub.
28. Stroller.
29. Baby sling.
30. Breast pump.
31. Breast pump accessories.

FEBRUARY
32–36. Five potty training seats.
37–47. Half of the contents of our linen closet (more than ten, but I’ll stop there).
48. Bin of baby bottles.
49. DK Reptile book (a duplicate).
50. Pair of pants in a nearly acid wash color. Yikes.
51. Unused mattress.
52. Accompanying box spring.
53. License plate holder that didn’t fit my car.
54. IKEA hanging system I never used.
55. Pencil pouches that never got used.
56. Old iPad cover.
57. Weird tie-dye bag.
58. Vera Bradley clutch I won as a prize.
59. File folder holder. (Say that three times fast!)

MARCH
60. Photo book I printed as a test print.
61. Children’s book I’ve never seen before and don’t remember buying.
62. Old lunchbox.
63. Baby carrier.
64. Dora backpack.
65. Stuffed animal.
66. An old bathmat.
67. Toy bird.
68. Dress (outgrown).
69. 3 pairs of underwear (outgrown).
70–79. Cleaned miscellaneous crap out of art closet.
80. Container of foam letters.
81. Set of dominos (duplicate).
82. Puppet.
83. Another puppet.
84–86. 3 old kaleidoscopes.
87. Broken Little Einsteins wand.
88–90. 3 baby toys no longer in use.

APRIL
1. Toy baby bathtub.
2–3. Two “laptop” toys for littler kids.
4–5.