We all know the feeling of overwhelming stress when your house seems to be full of children’s toys and not much else, but one brave mum-of-four went where many have threatened but never dared to go and she did it – she threw the toys away.
Allie Casazza, from Arkansas in the US told ABC News that the clutter was making her miserable.
“I had this huge room in my house, dedicated to toys. Bins overflowing with stuff. A $150 light-up unicorn no-one played with. The playroom was the bane of my existence,” she says.
And, like many mums, cleaning the room several times a day only resulted in everything being taken out again, and subsequently raising her stress levels even higher.
“I didn’t enjoy motherhood”, Allie said. “I didn’t enjoy [my kids]. They were a bother to me.”
One day, Allie made the decision that has made her globally famous – she gave nearly every toy in the house away for the good of the family. And if you were imagining an epic temper tantrum when the kids saw the result of her efforts, you’ll be surprised to know that they were excited to find that she had cleaned the room.
She now believes that doing so “saved my motherhood, my marriage”.
“I had been so resentful of my husband, telling him, ‘you have no idea what I go through all day’, but after the toys were gone I immediately felt lighter. I had so much less stress.”
Here’s Allie and her happy family from her Instagram account.
Eventually, the clear-out led to an even bigger household purge, and the family have since downsized. And it’s also led to a career change for Allie. She has started her own business dedicated to living minimally, and has even decided to home-school her kids.
Here she is talking the talk (we know she can walk the walk).
If you’re looking for any minimal living ideas, Allie has a blog called The Purposeful Housewife.
