Listen y’all, I’ve done this before. I really did not think I would struggle with it this time around, it’s just stuff, right? The problem comes when you have emotions attached to “stuff”. It’s not the actual stuff that I have a problem getting rid of, it’s the fact that it brings up so many emotions going through the stuff.
“I remember the time we took the kids to have a day in the creek at the farm in those shoes.”
“I was with my mom when we bought those red shoes.”
“Brayden did his first presentation in that costume.”
“Eleni lived in that Rapunzel wedding dress for almost 2 years”
“So many Halloween costumes from when they were little... why did they have to grow up?”
It’s been way more emotional than getting rid of stuff that I don’t need or use should actually be. But here I am... crying over red shoes and Rapunzel dresses...
It’s also feeling like stuff needs to go where it is fulfilling a purpose or go where it’s needed, not just filling space in a landfill somewhere (waste month is right around the corner y’all... I haven’t forgotten). So I feel some sort of obligation to look for my stuff to have a purpose somewhere else... though I’m sure some of it will ultimately end up being trashed... I’d like to find a purpose for things that I can. That being said, if you have a local place that needs my stuff, please let me know!
Here are days 1-3...
Day 1- My shoes.
I had 54 pair (which is ridiculous) and I donated 32. Finding a good place to donate took a little research. If you live in the mid-west or in the south, specifically Texas... y’all have LOTS of good options of great organizations that will take your shoes and do fantastic things with them. Here on the East coast, not as many options... especially locally in Southern Maryland. I finally settled on Planet Aid. They have big yellow bins all over the country... like tons of them... 5 here in Mechanicsville! They sell useable shoes at a reasonable price to entrepreneurs in 3rd world countries to sell to earn an income. Even shoes that are worn out they will find a use for- your shoes will never end up in the landfill! You can learn more about how Planet Aid works HERE.
Day 2-
27 picture frames-gone! I went through all the old stacks of pictures we still had in frames that were super cheap or broken, removed pictures, and got those babies out! Some of these were “someday craft projects”... but if they’ve been here 4 years and i still haven’t done anything with them, it’s not meant to be. Donated so some other crafter can keep them in her basement. 😉 They went to the local thrift store, Vintage Values. The employ local people with disabilities as their workforce.
Day 3-
16 dress up dresses, 6 tutus, 7 pairs of princess heels, 3 pair of Spider-Man gloves, a clown costume, homemade astronaut costume, 4 vegetable costumes, 1 cape, 1 set of Pom-poms, a gallon bag of girly accessories, and a giant stuffed anaconda... all to the local Headstart. This one was harder than it should have been... I just had so many memories attached to my kids in these dress up clothes! Eleni basically lived in her Rapunzel wedding dress for a couple of years and a whole slew of dress up things, dance costumes, and Halloweens from days gone by. It’s not like if I kept them my kids will go back to being little again... no one here can fit in them! So it was time to bless someone else. I hope there is at least one little girl at Headstart that finds as much joy for that Rapunzel wedding dress as Eleni did! I may have shed a little tear driving away.
So that’s my first three days. If you are local and know worthy causes, for ANYTHING, please let me know... there is a LOT of stuff yet to leave this house!
Thanks for joining me on the journey!
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