Linda moved into her current house 10 years ago with her husband, 2 small boys, a cat and a dog. They unpacked their essentials — set up a beautiful home — and got busy with life. They are an extremely active family that has since grown by one more son.
Our attic mission started with setting up a gift-wrapping station at the entryway to the attic. Then we moved on to tackle the bins of kids’ clothing that she seasonally rotated through her boys. Finally, one February, we strategically packed up all of the family’s Christmas decorations for easy set-up and easier pack-up. These projects were appointments with a clearly defined goal to sort the contents within a specific topic.
…but then Linda decided to continue her efforts with the unknown boxes that filled her attic. Grad school textbooks, elementary school papers, college notebooks, trophy collections, childhood hobbies, postcard collections, and lots of books!
The obvious payoff has been:
• steadily clearing the detritus from her attic
• dividing our efforts between the day-to-day and the big picture of having less stuff
• allowing herself a short trip down memory lane — with an accountability partner so she knows she won’t get stuck and will have something to show for her efforts
The longer lasting pay-off has been a chance to remind herself of her many accomplishments and interests, and share her past, and family treasures with her kids.