Clutterfree with Kids

Clutterfree with kids by Joshua Becker is a surprisingly thoughtful book. I expected some sort of manual or guide to cleaning up as you go along your day not a well written book on mindful parenting! It reminded me a bit of Marie Kondo's book: The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up. Put thought into your possessions. Buy them (and store them) with purpose. One quote from the book that I love is on page 168, "Too often, we live our lives from destination to destination. ... Unfortunately, life is not lived exclusively in these destinations. In fact, it is far more often lived in the pathways between them." Now does that say "book on clutter" anywhere to you? Clutter is accumulated in so many ways and it all comes down to this: what is important? What matters most to you? By spending time, money, and energy focusing on objects that aren't really necessary or bring you much joy you miss out on the things that matter. Another great nugget from pg 188, "Comparisons are always unfair. We typically compare the worst we know of ourselves to the best we presume about others." This one makes me think of "The Millionaire Next Door" by Thomas Stanley. Without knowing the whole story your faulty comparison might only make you poorer. (In that book the premise was that the showy people tend to be deep in debt or "new money" with little savings. The ones who lived more simply had large savings and more money - they were that millionaire next door.) Even if your neighbor lives the simple stress free life you'd love to have without any skeletons in his closet you can be assured it's just because he chooses not to dwell on the skeletons that they fade into the background. Everyone has that choice. Depending on your upbringing it can be harder for some than others to reach that point and that is where you and this book come in. You don't have to be a minimalist or even perfectly tidy but being mindful when acquiring things teaches your children a valuable mindset. It helps decrease clutter in all areas of life.

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