Parents: Are you surprised by how much time you spend dealing with "Stuff"

[Arugula Latte]

Before you had kids, did you know you were about to be buried by a virtual avalanche of toys and gizmos and plastic and party favors and brightly colored figurines and crayons and artwork and glitter and school correspondence and safety contraptions and car seats and sippy cups?

I had an inkling, but I had no idea about the extent of it all. It is a full-time job just to clean up, make the hard decisions about what to donate, organize, recycle paper, store things, etc. You can tell your relatives "please take it easy on the gifts," -- but do they listen? No.

Now, I know we're lucky to have too much stuff rather than not enough stuff, but the extent of the overabundance is a constant source of stress to me. Does anyone else feel this way?

[Burma Jones]

1. Yes, yes I am...

Boy, kids have a lot of paraphanalia.

[Momgonepostal]

2. Yes, Ma'am

Luckily for me, I'm a natural pack rat, so if my house wasn't full of kid paraphenalia, there'd be something else in it's place though. This summer we seriously want to have a yard sale and get serious about ebaying some of the smaller, higher value items.

[vi5]

3. I'm just lucky that my mother watches our daughter during the day...

So we get to share the excess of stuff and it doesn't completely overwhelm our house. This is only fair since the excess of stuff can be traced back to the grandma source in the first place so it's only fair she should have to have her house cluttered by it as well.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

4. I have given up Order years ago.

It's like trying to build a house of cards outside during a tornado.

[AlienGirl]

5. A Million Little Plastic Bits!

http://www.geocities.com/scaredandcold/plasticbits.html

Tucker

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

7. Is that site yours?

If it is, I'm asking permission to translate this piece of genius and post it on my blog.

[Alenne]

6. I don't feel lucky

Everyday I feel like giving everything away to live a clutter free existence.

And if one more relative gives my kids playdoh or paint one more time I will stab them.