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Lightening our load
After spending the past...well...let's be honest...2 months packing for this move, I have (tragically, late) come to the conclusion that stuff is overrated. Moving stuff, storing stuff, having stuff, collecting stuff, and especially buying stuff--so thoroughly overrated. This time, we said, enough. Stop the madness + throw off those chains!
We are not big shoppers. But we hauled carloads to Goodwill plus rented a big construction dumpster that sat in my driveway for two weeks happily receiving all the unnecessary accumulations of the last 17 years. Although we've only been in this house five years, some of that discarded detritus has been moved with us multiple times, staying in its boxes in damp cellars and musty attics until the next move came around. Yes, that right. We never even unpacked them. Among them: tole painted holiday decorations (gifts), a dried flower arrangement given to me at a wedding shower (never used...hope they're not reading this), lots of term papers and college textbooks, preschool videos, spit-up stained baby clothes, two sofas, the list goes on and on.
This was tough on some of those among us (ahem, L.) who are packrats. L has never met a piece of cloth or Very Special Paper from third grade that she didn't hoard and treasure. She keeps wrappers from meaningful candy, dear reader. Candy wrappers! While I don't want to steamroll my clean and purge revolution right over her attachments to things, I did "guide" her through her packing and discarding. It felt like one of those HGTV shows with the agonizing over each object before putting it in the keep, give away, or throw away piles. All I can say is my daughter has the makings of being a museum curator. Or the local eccentric with all the cats and goats and ceiling-high piles of newspapers.
So I feel lightened and renewed. The move is halfway through, with our things in storage for a month before we move into our new house. We'll be more measured about what we keep and buy in the future. Greg did go a little too far when he mentioned, as he brushed by on his way to our dumpster, "Maybe we should remember this the next time we're at Target." Well. I don't know about that.
Sunday, June 3, 2007 | 3 Comments 
Reader Comments (3)
Oh, sweet L reminds me of Chase. Just this morning, I started going through our garage (where most of our stuff has been stored for the last year). I had to send him away...he wanted to save EVERYTHING. Which didn't work so well with my plan of chucking everything. Sigh.
I'm glad you got moved out okay. Wish I could have been there to help.
Oh, and those trips to Target...totally necessary.
Doesn't it feel so good to be lighter? The process though is not so fun. Ethan is just like L and Chase. If he sees me cleaning anything out, the first thing he does is check the trash can next to me and starts fishing out all those 'special things' I threw away.
I guess maybe every family has at least one! I hesitate to admit I did go through a few things when she was at school. Kind of sneaky but necessary and I really don't think she'll even realize I got rid of the things I did. Shhh...