I'VE never been one for spring cleaning but this year things are different. Moving house doesn't just nudge you in the direction of a good clear out, it demands it. At no other time do you meticulously pick through every drawer, every cupboard, every box and every bag with a view to reducing your possessions by at least a third.

For the past month we have been doing just that as we prepare for two men (hopefully big and burly - good-looking would be a bonus) and a van to move us five miles up the road to our new home.

It is not easy, especially for a hoarder like me. And the glut of clear-out TV programmes such as Life Laundry doesn't help at all. Some things are almost as hard to part with as an arm or leg. As I've blitzed our cupboards I've had the biggest problems with:

Children's art and craft

It's a deeply emotional thing, parting with any painting, drawing or other work of art produced by your children. Totally meaningless splodges daubed on a scrap of paper by your three-year-old can assume a significance equivalent to owning an original Van Gogh. "Awww, I remember when he did this," you say. "We were stuck in that traffic jam on the M62 and he found my lipstick in the glove compartment..." Throwing such things in the bin seems so callous - like chucking away memories. School work and things made for special occasions such as Mothers' Day generate even more guilt trips.

Letters and birthday cards

Again, these have been chosen and written just for you and hurling them out seems disrespectful. They are also potentially historic documents and depending on what happens to the person who wrote them, may sell for millions - although most of my friends are more sensible than to end up married to the likes of Prince Charles.

Unidentified bits and bobs

It could be a two-inch long piece of pipe with a funny attachment on the end, a strange-looking tent peg, a nut or a bolt. Or a pink piece of plastic that has almost certainly come from something belonging to Barbie. Either way, you know for certain that the minute you throw it away you will hear someone in the house shouting for it. You can't take the risk that it might be the linchpin.

Books

I love books. Not only to read - there is nothing more wonderful to line the walls of your home with. But we have far too many. And some have not been opened for at least ten years, if not more. However, they are like old friends and, like bits and bobs, you never know when you will need them.

One of the many throwing out-related arguments we have had centred around my reluctance to part with Brookside - The Golden Years (or something like that) and my husband's insistence that if I kept it he would hang on to his pictorial history of Howard's Way.

If you are anything like me, you will keep things that you don't really need for years, but eventually you get to the stage - sharing a home with children and all their stuff usually knocks the hoarder out of you - where in order to maintain your sanity something has to give.

I'll grab a bin bag, close my eyes and think of a spacious, minimalist household.

Updated: 09:37 Tuesday, May 18, 2004