Mounds of Paper

I am very much into de-cluttering and organizing our house lately. Gee, could that have anything to do with the impending arrival of baby # 3? ;) I was sorting through another pile of papers that had occupied one corner of our computer room and yes, I was able to recycle a good amount. However, I was simply amazed at the sheer amount of paperwork one family accumulates!!! We are doing our part . . . we have many bills that we pay online and we recycle just about every scrap of paper that comes across our home. I am also getting better about "letting go" of things/papers in general, but we still have plenty that we need to hold onto, tucked away in our file cabinet (e.g. taxes, bills, receipts, my ASHA certification, Bradley certification, etc.). I'm not even certain you will be able to read some of these receipts in 7 years anyway . . . let's just hope we are never audited.

Ah and the reminder, at the top of my "to do" list this week = TAXES! I really don't want that hanging over my head after baby is here. I would rather just enjoy baby with leisurely nursing sessions and revel in the newborn stage all over again.

Back to my original point: why do we have all this paper anyway? There is a certain amount needed for proof and verification purposes (whatever happened to the good old handshake and promise?), but I wonder if some of it is a vain attempt on our part to show that our lives have had meaning . . . that we had a purpose . . . that we were loved, appreciated . . . that we were making personal progress in some fashion. Just wondering out loud. All I do know is that I would be a much less stressed person if I could chuck 80% of this into the recycling bin. ;)