My answer is yes.
But before I give my whys, lets define the term “nesting” for those not in the know. Here are two similar definitions from two different websites:
“Nesting is the act of preparing your home for your baby’s arrival, often fueled by big bursts of energy late in pregnancy”. – BabyCenter.com
“Nesting is the urge to clean and organize during pregnancy…to get your home ready for your new baby”. -AmericanPregnancy.org
Basically you are getting your home ready for your beautiful baby and making sure everything is ready to go when you come home with your new bundle of joy. Diapers at the ready? Check. Bottles ready to go? Check. Piles of paperwork that needs to be sorted through? Check. Wait. What?
Yes, I am in the nesting phase. I am making lists of what we need for the baby since it has been 7 years since my daughter was born so we are basically starting from scratch. I am slowly accumulating what we need and getting ready for our new arrival in a couple of months.
But…
I am also decluttering and minimizing things that have absolutely nothing to do with the impending shift in our family dynamic.
I am cleaning out closets. I am sorting through drawers. I am going through mountains of paperwork that seem to have accumulated over time. I am getting rid of things that no longer serve a purpose or are useful.
I am cutting out the crap.
And it is not just because of hormones and the whole nesting vibe that comes on about this time during pregnancy.
I am doing it because it needs to be done.
I am well aware of the sleep-deprivation and major life adjustment that comes with a newborn and the first few months of a parent’s life. I remember all too well that phase with my daughter, and there are days when you literally are in survival mode and wonder when was the last time you ate a meal.
With a baby and my older daughter to take care of, there will be zero time to declutter stuff that shouldn’t be here in the first place. There will be no time to minimize and be intentional about what is occupying unwanted space in our home.
So I am doing it now.
When I do get a burst of energy, I am tackling a project. When I need to take a break, I take a break. But when the next burst of energy comes, I am in minimize-mode and getting things done. We live in a small apartment and anything extra that has no use can make our abode feel very overwhelming quite fast.
Any tips or tricks you have when it comes to minimizing your stuff? I’d love to hear about it!
When I am trying to reduce clutter and decide if I want to throw something away, I usually ask myself if I will remember or ever look for said item a couple months down the road. More often than not, the answer is no and said item gets thrown away or donated. Good luck with the cleaning and minimizing!
That is definitely a good tip about if you will remember said item in a few months when decluttering. Thanks for sharing and thanks for stopping by! 🙂
Well I don’t have any tips regarding pregnancy but I was just thinking about nesting. I thought it was for anyone getting ready to go into hibernation mode, which I am. lol! And I want to eat a lot of soup, bread, and pumpkin anything!
Lol 🙂
Oh I definitely agree nesting and minimizing are possible. Good for you taking the time to clear out what’s no longer needed to make room for new baby things. Such an exciting time! I feel like such a slacker compared to you. I sorted my clothes and dumped everything I wanted to give away in a pile a few months ago. I finally got to packing it up to donate this weekend! 😀
Yay, at least you are getting stuff done, that’s what counts! We all move at a different pace and that’s totally okay 😀
I don’t think you need any tips. You are going for it! I remember how much space baby paraphernalia used to take up in the house. You’re going to need the room for what is coming. But I wonder if, with this new minimalist approach you’ve got now, you’ll be inclined to cut out unnecessary “stuff” for baby? (The problem is, it so often comes in the form of gifts. Is there any way to be proactive about that? Ask for gift cards to baby stores instead of gifts that might or might not be useful – and that might take up more room than you want to devote to them?)
Yes, we are definitely going with less stuff this time around! What helps is that we are in a much, much smaller place than what we were living in when my daughter was born, so we don’t even have room for any extras! 🙂
Thanks for your comment Ruth!!!!