This is pre-Christmas mind you and I feel buried beneath stuff. Why does my house, even when fairly neat, still feel cluttered? I purge on a regular basis - in fact, though I am not big on daily housecleaning, I do love to purge - still it feels like we have waaaaaay too much stuff.

I just barricaded myself in the twins’ bedroom and hid about half the stuffed animals in two large baskets beneath their cribs. I don’t know what else to do with them. And I’m a sucker for stuffed animals - always have been.

My task last week was to go through all of the kids books, pull out ones that are too young and/or too old for our current audience, and box up the rest. The box of see-ya-laters are still sitting in the hall, but I will get them up to the attic tomorrow.

Also on my list to purge is the closet full of games and puzzles, aka the girls’ bedroom closet. I’m sure a fair number of those can be tucked away for later.

Part of the problem, of course, stems from having young children. No matter how little you have, they will find a way to turn make a mess. Give a couple of toddlers a ball and a baby doll in an empty room and ten minutes later you’ll have a scene of devestation with toy bits in every corner and hanging from the light fixture.

The other part of the problem, again of course, is our lack of basement. We have a basement but we can’t use it for anything other than creeping out Edward. It’s a 150-year old cellar. Empty and clean (in a musty, cobwebby sort of way) but not a place to hang out in or store anything in.

Christmas Eve eve is being reserved in our house for a grand cleaning and purging. So we can fill every newly empty nook and cranny with more stuff on Tuesday. Hooray!