I’m seeing some themes emerging as I continue with my decluttering project. The first object is never that hard to pick, but objects 2-5ish feel tough. I find myself wandering, staring at shelves, not quite certain where to start. Items 6-10 are much easier. I guess I’ve entered the decluttering zone by that point?

Ten items feels right for me. I can find the time to declutter ten items. After I have decluttered 10 items, I always start to notice things for the next day’s session. I like this. I like being able to say “I’ve done enough today, and I know where I’m starting tomorrow.”

So here are the objects that are leaving the Novak household!

Day 3:

• One ball pit ball. I tried to create a ball pit in a cardboard box when Pippa was little. But did you know ball pits require hundreds and hundreds of balls to have any sort of satisfying depth? I got rid of the ball pit balls ages ago, but I keep finding survivors stashed in random spots of the house. Hopefully this one was the last? (Highly unlikely.)
• Two little suction toys that just never amused my kids the way I hoped they would.
• Old Mr. Potato Head pieces. I bought Mr. Potato Head thinking my kids would love him as much as I did. Nope. They are happy to encounter him occasionally at preschool. So I gave Mr. Potato Head away ages ago, but as with the ball pit, I keep finding odd pieces.
• Old tinkertoy pieces. Again with the toys I thought would amuse my kids for hours but alas, they were not interested. Though I think the current Tinkertoys are not as fun as the ones they made when I was a kid.
• Old piece from a toy I gave away. This was a wooden bear head. Not at all creepy to just find a random wooden bear head amongst your children’s toys.
• Old toy mirror from a toddler purse set. Pippa got like three of these purses the year she was two with lipstick, mirror, etc. She has outgrown them. But I still find rogue pieces.
• Old toy credit card.
• Four containers of expired Pedialyte. My kids hate this stuff. They won’t drink it fresh, so I can’t expect them to drink it expired!
• Two more tins of loose tea. (See Day 2’s decluttering.)
• Vanilla flavored almond milk. I’m the only person in my house who drinks almond milk but since buying this box, I have learned I’m sensitive to vanilla. I’m not going to drink almond milk that might make me have diarrhea, thank you very much.

And Day 4:

• A very nice humidifier that we inherited from my parents that is just two big for the spots where we use humidifiers.
• A cache of Nose Frida filters. The Nose Frida is a snot sucker that I had to use when my kids were congested babies. I haven’t used the thing in over a year. Hello, trash!
• Unused tube of Desitin. Our babysitter has a grandbaby that can use the stuff.
• Baby nail files. Never used. Oh, the stuff they convince new parents to buy because, oh my god, babies are scary.
• Three old medicine dispensers for liquid baby painkiller.
• Pack of sample “tush wipes.” That were hidden amongst snot suckers and butt cream.
• Two pieces of mystery pink plastic. Absolutely no fucking clue what they were ever used for or where they came from or how they found their way into my home. They were about the size and shape of rings but definitely not rings.
• Two Hello Kitty hair brushes. Whenever we use these brushes, Pippa cries that they hurt her head. So I hid them amongst butt cream and tush wipes and can now safely move them to the donation zone.
• A reusable water bottle that we never use.
• A digital thermometer. I found three digital thermometers still in their packaging. I think our thermometer broke when someone had a fever and I was traumatized that I did not know if my child had a fever of 101.4 or 101.3. So I ordered a bunch, vowing to always have a backup for the backup’s backup. But now we use one of those fancy ear thermometers, so these simple digital thermometers are relics from an age past. I think we can safely live with a backup thermometer and a backup to the backup. But the backup’s backup does not need a backup!

Whew! On deck for tomorrow: The Elastigirl Halloween costume that Pippa convinced me to buy last October but that I actually have zero intention of ever wearing.