The mystery of stuff.

      I was watching House Hunters on the little idiot box the other night when my 7 year old daughter commented "Why is the closet so important to that lady?" I chuckled because to us a large closet is a handy substitute for a playroom.  Living on the road, I have discovered that as a family we need less stuff and require very little square footage to be happy.  Why two people and 1 little dog need 4000 square ft to live happily is foreign to my babies.  Here are some tricks to packing, storing, and enjoying a big life in a small space:

1. Examine your laundry and closet.  

        I can wear only 1 pair of pants at a time. Why should I own 15 pair?  I own clothes in laundry loads; pants, dark t-shirt fabric, light t-shirt fabric, towels, and delicate. I don't like doing laundry but I REALLY don't like piles of dirty laundry. So, we own what we will really wear in a weeks time and give away the rest.  Also, thanks to a dear friend's recommendation ALL clothes for young children live in my room.  This stops the DIVA changes that bulk up laundry day with clothes I don't remember a child wearing.

2. Know what you use in the kitchen, bath, ect...

         I have a three bedroom house in Texas and love to cook. I like kitchen gadgets and cookbooks but that can't travel every 13 weeks to a new local without a U-Haul. What did I do? I took inventory.  I use the same three skillets at nearly every meal. One of those skillets will double as a casserole and a roaster. Corningware breaks... so, I use cheap microwave safe plastic ware.  I have four Tervis tumblers for my husband and I. They are insulated and can have travel lids. This makes them perfect for hot, cold and in the SUV. The kids have 1 stainless sipper seal water bottles for in the car, 2 cheap plastic cups, and 1 glass juice jar each. I packed silver ware for one meal and bought those new light weight silicone colander, measuring cups, and bakeware.  These things with a cookie sheet, hotpads, my Pampered Chef bamboo spoons, and some other small kitchen stuff (shearers, can opener, ect..) all fit nicely in some old zip coolers and a rubbermaid tub.  My cupboards may be bare of the gadgets but the food isn't hurting. Anything I find I need that doesn't travel, I find a Goodwill, Salvation Army, or some other noble thrift store.

     As for the bathroom, everything fits in 1 small old samsonite suitcase. Their are 4 of us but we don't need 12 lotions, 4 kinds of hairstuff, and 3 million hairbows. I will not share toothbrushes, deodorant, hairbrushes, and razors. Everything else is community property in my bath. 

3. The joys of toys and books.

     My children play together with a small pile of legos, a small box for manipulatives and crafts, and 3 old suitcases with misc dolls, dress up, action figures, cars, playmobile, and Vision Forum delights.  When we started packing we noticed Nathaniel owned 2 five gallon buckets full of matchbox cars.  He now has and cares for a more reasonable 10.   Rachel has 50 or more stuffed animals and dolls at home.  Here she is happy with her Vision Forum doll with outfits, a Bitty baby, and a few small stuffed animals.  The less they have at once the more they appreciate. It works. I promise.

     At home I have and hoard more books than some small town libraries. If you home educate, you probably have this addiction.  Books have weight and weight costs space and gas when living on the road.  So, school fits in 3 backpacks and two 12 x 14 canvas boxes.  This was soooo very hard. But Ben Franklin started public libraries for people like me who love to read. I now will support them all over the country. I also buy new readers from thrift stores and National Parks as we go down the road. We then sell them or give them away when the space is needed.