Wotion

Do you read O Magazine? This month the cover says in large letters. DE-CLUTTER YOUR LIFE! Well, there's nothing I like better than a little decluttering so I read with eager anticipation.

Oprah started with her shoes and weeded out a few pairs. It got me to thinking. Where might I have, um, more than enough of something and suddenly it hit me...

WOTION!

For those who don't know this about me, I had a small obsession with lotion when I was a tot. I think I asked for it for Christmas when I was about two and paraded around the living room with my pink bottle of Johnson's Lotion, saying "wotion, mommy, wotion". That obsession has never really faded and it was joined when I became a teen by a love of shampoo, but that's another story. It still makes me happy to go to CVS and smell all the lotions before picking one out (BELIEVE ME, I recognize just how lame I am). This morning while putting things away, I decided to amass all the lotion I have in the house. It is featured in the above photo. Just so you don't have to count, there are 13 different containers of lotion.

Now my disclaimer is that one is for Ella and one is for Ben. The other 11, mine. All mine! Some are to go in a handbag. One lives in the bathroom for use after showering. One lives on my nightstand to put on my feet if they need tlc. One is on my dresser so I can use it if I forgot to put the one in the bathroom on after showering. One was on my desk when I had an office. Well, I won't spend any more time justifying my 11 lotion containers (yes, one is unopened - it was a gift and I don't really like the scent of lavender).

How to organize and de-clutter your obsession? I started by throwing away two purse sized Jergens. They were both old and I have found that Jergens becomes a bit like glue after it has been around for too long. Okay, so that was as far as I got with it. I couldn't part with any of the others (*). But, I have committed to using up all lotion before buying more.

Would anyone like some lavender scented lotion? It comes with shower gel....

(*) While pregnant I struggled with nausea triggered by smells. I was given shea butter lotion by a friend to prevent stretch marks. It gave me hives so I chucked it. I bought a nice smelling shea butter based lotion from the Body Shop, but within minutes of putting it on it became very chemical smelling and made me nauseous, so I threw it out. I'm counting those in as decluttering work. There WOULD have been 15 if I hadn't been proactive months ago.