Apparently, the average American house is now three times larger than it was 50 years ago. Off-site storage units have become a multi-billion dollar industry. And, by the early ’90s, American families had, on average, twice as many possessions as they did 25 years earlier. 

I'm guessing that's probably pretty much the same as Australia. And it makes me take a breath!

Yes, I live in a big house. And I enjoy it. I like having a lot of room to move. I don't like having three bathrooms to clean, but I do appreciate the fact that I don't have to jump up and down outside the door while I'm waiting for one of the children to finish.

I can't do much about the size of my house. It comes with my husband's job, and while we have it, I'll be grateful and be careful about how much energy it uses. But I can do something about our stuff. 

It's becoming pretty obvious with Coco, the baby, that she really doesn't need too much in the way of toys. She'd prefer to dig around in the cupboards, use my toothbrush, play with the real phone and bang on the piano than use a made-in-China plastic equivalent. I have one small box of toys downstairs, but she rarely digs around in it. And honestly, I'm quite happy to keep the whole of the downstairs toy free. 

While I'm not claiming 'angel' status in relation to plastic kids junk, I do try to keep it to a minimum. I've seen too many houses where huge toy boxes in every room are full of bits and pieces which don't work any more or which got separated from their other bits, or which just plain got boring.

I'm going to have to think carefully about Christmas and birthdays and not fall for buying 'lots' of little things just because I think the children will enjoy opening them on the day.

Twice as many possessions as 25 years ago! No wonder I feel oppressed by the constant tidying and cataloguing and cleaning!