My Summer of Too Much Stuff

By Leann Kruckenberg

I've had a variety of interesting experiences this summer.  One common thread that keeps cropping up is "too much stuff."  It seems that all of my immediate family is in some type of life transition.  I keep hearing "we have to get rid of this stuff, before we move."

I've also been tasked this summer with helping to clean out 50 years of "stuff" collected in my in-laws estate.  The past few weeks, I've been musing a lot about why we collect so much "stuff."  I haven't come to any definitive conclusions regarding the "why," but I have given a lot of thought about how not to burden my adult children with my "stuff" when I am no longer alive.

Clutter has always increased my stress level.  Sorting through and disposing of my excess "stuff" is quite therapeutic for me when I can find the time.  However, it would be such a great feeling if all the sorting and disposing of things wasn't necessary.

We work hard in our home to be kind to our environment.  In our community, it is fairly easy to consciously recycle goods.  After being in small town Kansas during the estate sorting, I've been reminded that recycling is not as easy in the rural areas as it is in the city.  This difficulty points to the idea that we should all be proactive in bringing fewer items into our homes that need to be recycled.  Most of us are already familiar with the idea of reduce and reuse.  I recently ran across another way to think about our "stuff" on a blog called Living Well & Spending Less (http://www.livingwellspendingless.com/).  The writer suggested that we should "rethink" what we bring into our homes, and we should think about "recreating" something new with what we already have.

As I'm preparing my classroom for the fall, I am looking at each item with new eyes.  I'm asking myself, "Is this something I love?"  Does it provide multiple open-ended opportunities for children?  Can I use this item in a new way this year?  Is this item better-suited for children in another classroom?  Does my classroom have too much "stuff" available to the children?  Will the children be overwhelmed with all this "stuff?"  Am I overwhelmed with all this "stuff?"  When is the last time I used this "stuff?"  Why am I keeping this "stuff?"

Here's to making peace with our "stuff" this school year. It's a great way to refocus on the most important things in our classroom... the children.