So much on my plate

First I'd like to thank each of you for sending us "Congrats" on our sixteen years together. We appreciate it.

Also, please say a special prayer for the local family who will bury their son today, Thursday August 16, 2007. Please pray that they are surrounded by peace and comfort during this extremely difficult time.

Now for what's on my mind...

One word could describe what I see when I look around my house. Clutter. It is everywhere. It has taken over my home, my garage, my yard, even my flower gardens. I have decided each day to do something to declutter this place. It's not something that I'll be able to do in a week or even two, but I'm sure going to try! Of course, if my husband wasn't such a pack rat and we didn't have such a large family, we probably wouldn't have so much clutter!

Today, we started to declutter clothing. As school is quickly approaching for the kids, we are finding that we need to get school outfits purchased, play clothes separated, and downsize the massive amount of clothing that my children are blessed with. The first mountain that we are taking on is the wicked "Sock Basket." You know, the basket that ends up overflowing with every sock you've ever owned but unable to find a match to. Now, I don't know how you all deal with your sock dilemmas but here, we do it in the most UNorganized way. Would you expect any less? (sigh)

When the laundry is washed, all socks are thrown into a basket. It helps that the girls wear the same socks as do the boys. However, add into the mix of adult socks, mismatched socks, too small socks, and you have a giant mess of socks. That, my friends, is what I have here. I have three giant rectangle-shaped laundry baskets that are heaping with socks. Red socks, blue socks, white socks, ...you get the point. Finding a pair of socks around here is becoming an Olympic feat. Perhaps that is one reason that most of the children prefer to go without socks. They're sick of digging too. So, to settle this score once and for all, I have collected every sock we have in this house. Tomorrow, I will dump all the baskets out...one by one. I will go through these socks, one by one. I will pick out anything that is nearly-new and I will keep those. The rest of the socks are HISTORY! I will be donating them. Of course, the kids must have socks so we purchased two new packages of socks for each of the four older kids. These are not only for "back to school" but also to help mom attempt to "get back her sanity." SOCKS-BE-GONE!! Poof!

How do you deal with clothing clutter? Any laundry tricks you'd like to share? Like, how to keep it from magically multiplying hourly. Any tips or suggestions for organization of the kids' clothes that would help reduce clutter? How many outfits should one child have? Should play clothes and good clothes be separate? How do YOU manage?

I feel lost in a sea of clutter!

Up next... A Chore List (and yes, it's already done!)