Like me, do you feel the need for a pre-Chirstmas sort out?  

This is the time of the year I push myself to sort out my house and have a purge.  A few years ago, I worked through the Magic of Tidying Up, and I can tell you one thing – you need to keep on top of it.
 
My family and I have lived in the same house for almost 20 years, and when you don’t move regularly there’s not that huge opportunity to cull. 
 
So, on school holidays, and particularly in November I revisit this.  A couple of my aims are to clear a whole bookshelf, one clothes drawer (I have three), and digitalise a filing cabinet drawer.

1. Before you get rid of things, see if they can be recycled – you might be surprised.  As part of the Pre-Christmas cull I take the recycles that I have been collecting to the places that accept them.  

 
Here’s some things that can be recycled (not an exhaustive list), but that you can’t put out with your recycle bin:

• Batteries
• Light globes
• Toothbrushes, dental floss and toothpaste tubes Textas, markers, pens
• Bread Tags
• Printer cartridges and other ewaste  
• Cameras
• Mobile Phones
• Cables (all those ones you no longer know what to do with…)

And paint tins!  Both empty and those who some paint in them.  I think we have about 20 in the shed.
 
To find out where you can recycle many of these items have a look at https://recyclingnearyou.com.au and https://www.terracycle.com/en-AU and your local council website. 

Happy culling

Kim

ps if you're feeling that not just the house, but everything else is getting a bit too much, you may be interested in getting your self care sorted for 2020.  

...and shame on society for making it worse.
​
Maybe like me, you’ve been helping someone to ‘adult’.  Taking them by the hand and walking them through bureaucracy, banking and all things that can no longer be avoided.
 
Welcome, to the big, bad world.
 
Yesterday we walked away from an encounter with a public service and my fledging adult commented that they really thought when I had reexplained my question clearly that I would get a clear and accurate answer…..
 
…. But no.
 
Welcome to bureaucracy I said. 
 
My fledging commented that the people behind the counters looked so grumpy and unhelpful.
 
‘Yes’ I said.
 
And, wait we are getting closer to the ‘shame on you’ moment.
 
We were opening a new bank account.  The person helping us was going through the standard questions, and then it took a left turn.  They then started asking my fledging about other people in the house.
 
My trusting, innocent fledging started answering.
 
At this point I sat forward and said ‘do you need to know this?’  ‘is this a legal requirement?’
 
‘…no’.
 
I turned to my fledging and said – 
 
You do not have to answer this.  This is private information.
 
So the SHAME on society?
 
I (naively) thought that we (society) had tightened up the banking industry.
 
Where is the clarity?
 
The sentence that says ‘I am going to ask you some questions.  These ones we are required to ask you by law; these ones help us contact you and are the minimum we need to manage your account; and these ones are optional’.
 
I think it’s called….that’s right – informed consent.
 
Or in this day of letting it all hang out on social media is informed consent still an important concept??
 
STOP taking advantage of my precious fledgings by bamboozling them; assuming they know things they don’t; and capitalising on their innocence.
 
The example I have given is just one, out of many I could give.
 
SHAME on you society.  My fledgings are precious and I ask you to help them, acknowledge that they are still developing and not take advantage of them.