Does this clutter make my butt look big?

More deep thoughts from my shallow mind.

Deep thoughts about clutter, de-clutter, reorganization, re-purposing and sorting. I love to purge. Our trash day is on Friday, and some weeks, I feel like I spend all week getting ready for trash day. When I was young and sexy, I spent all week looking forward to Ladies Night at Cowboys -- now, I long to see the Best Way truck rumbling down the street.

So, with Operation Basement coming to a close (again!), furniture finding new homes and general re-organization in full swing, I'm finding myself neck deep in sort-and-pitch mode. But, I'm losing myself in boxes, containers, bins and tubs. I'm lost in things I'm keeping, things I'm selling, things I'm Goodwilling and things -- just things. Maternity things that go back to Homestead. Baby things that go back to their original store of purchase --

STUFF, STUFF, STUFF.

And some days, (I'm being honest here), I'm totally and completely, udderly and wholy overwhelmend by the sheer volume of stuff. So much so, that I can't really figure out where to start, and the best solution to that dilemma seems to be -- sit still.

So you must be thinking of those crazy ladies on Oprah that are surrounded by heaps and piles of stuff -- so I have to qualify myself here by saying, "I'm not like that." (Homestead, please post a comment in my defense!)

But, I'm finding myself in need of some general rules (amended from last year's set, of course). For example, Middle is the biggest hoarder and packrat of the bunch. She is the messiest kid in the world. Every scrap is important to her. Walking into her room is sometimes a traumatic event. I believe, in part, I have made her this way. She sleeps snuggled into (not one) -- but ALL of her blankets. She sleeps with her crayons. Is she afraid I'll sneak in at night and throw them away? She is big into arts & crafts. Sort of mod/abstract arts and crafts. And I'm in need of some new rules on what is trash and what is treasure. Example A: This week, she is doing Dixie Cup Crafts. She's exploring their potential for dangling ornaments, most of them missing the bottoms, which have been haphazardly hacked out with blunt tip scissors. She is then suspending them from old pony tail holders that are too stretched out for snug fit. So, when I venture past the threshold of her room and see Dixie Schrapnel and ponytail parts, I assume "GARBAGE" -- but wouldn't you know, "Mom, what did you do with my craft project?" -- And pretty soon, she's rootin' through the garbage can, tipping out all the truly nasty stuff in search of her bottomless Dixie Cup Bell/Ornament.

So, can anyone suggest a rule? One week of "still on the floor" -- and then it's trash? Couple of days? I've tried getting her to pick up -- that's more of a "stack up" scenario.

Yea, back to "does this clutter make my butt look big?" And the idea that all this emotional "stuff" we carry around makes in impossible to slim down, simplify or purge in the healthy eating and lifestyle area if we can't even manage to get the trash out! I think there is something to it.