So yesterday (which is part of our weekend, DH has Sun-Mon off) we went to work on the major work of going through boxes and getting rid of stuff. My oldest got in on the act this time, since the first box we tackled just happened to be his. He opened it, and in the process of going through it, got rid of most it. Most of what he got rid of went to the yard sale area we’ve set aside in our garage. He did hold aside, and then give to his little brother, a metal Tonka dumptruck that he’d had when he was little. Our toddler was thrilled, and bugged his big brother to go outside so they could go play with it. After he finished the box, that’s just what they did. Meanwhile, we tackled four other boxes, found some of my calligraphy books that were missing (that I knew were still here – somewhere) and some other stuff that went promptly into the yard sale boxes. My DH, who is a genetic packrat (parents and grandparents passed on the trait to him), did a very admirable job of looking through things and reminiscing, and then finally deciding that they could be let go. I was so proud of him! It’s hard when your whole life, you’re trained to hold on to things, because you never know when you’ll need it or want to show someone something, and bring that thing out to illustrate a story… but when all that stuff adds up to a huge amount of clutter – maybe it’s time to find a different approach.
Also, last night, I started going through my scrapbooking/rubberstamping stuff. I already have wire paper-racks set aside for the sale, since I have more paper than racks, and not enough floor space for the racks. I found a different way of storing the paper, and cleared off the racks. Last night, I went through all my rubber stamps, looking critically at the designs on them, deciding which were ones that I was actually going to use (they came in monthly scrapbooking kits that I used to get) and which ones just didn’t suit my purposes. The ones that didn’t suit are going to be sold also, along with a carrier that I used when I was going places to do my scrapbooking. I need to get a couple pictures, along with whatever other scrapbooking stuff goes to the sale, so that when I post it online, I can give people an idea of what’s for sale.
My next project, over this week, is going through our bookshelves, and pulling out stuff that we haven’t touched in six years, and getting rid of it. Then I’m going to employ a technique that my sister-by-choice (best friend who is like a sister to me) used in her house for paring down books. Go through the bookshelves, and pull books just a little forward on the shelf (far enough that you can see they’re pulled out some) that are yours, but you’re willing to get rid of. Then your significant other (or your kids, or both) pushes back in only the books that they are really interested in reading. Then they do the same, pull forward their books, and then you push in the ones that you are interested in reading. Whatever’s still forward on the shelves finds a new home. Since we have seven tall bookshelves full of books in our house, it should be interesting to see what’s left by the time we’re done!
Also, on this week’s agenda is going helping the teen-ager go through his room, with an eye towards the things he really loves, and the stuff he’s merely been holding onto because it’s his stuff. He’s finally starting to understand why we’re doing this now, instead of waiting til closer to when we move. I sat him down, and reminded him how much he hates being rushed to do things, how much he hates feeling like he’s not moving fast enough. I asked him if he liked the last move – up all night packing, cleaning, dropping into bed exhausted for a couple hours sleep, and then back up again for more work? When he replied that he’d hated it, I told him that’s why we’re working on it now – so that we can get a little done each day and not have to kill ourselves at the actual move time. It finally seemed to click, and he was much less grumbly about helping with the boxes yesterday. Hurray!
