Our Family

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

The Great Purge 2012

Well, after several posts on this subject, I have finally hit my breaking point on the condition of the boys' room. I'm not sure what got them into this little streak of dumping every last item in the closet the second they have some time alone, but I'm done with it.

Since Michael's birthday is over and I've had a chance to manage his new haul of loot, I prided myself in the extraordinary degree of organization I had achieved. I had a ball bin, a guy bin, a block bin, a vehicle bin, and a shoe bin. There were very few miscellaneous categories. Things were rocking.

Until today.

And it was destroyed again.

And I lost it. I lost it, I lost it, I lost it. I piled up all the toys on the floor. Anything that could be picked up and thrown in a basket was picked up.

I looked at the massive pile. I groaned at the trap of the privileged American we had so easily fallen into. I marveled at how little they actually played with the toys that had been taking up so much space and laughed at how they frequently ran around with yarn from a blanket as part of their playtime rather than the hoard of toys that was sitting before that I had just gathered up.

I mean, they do play with toys, but the cost of the stress that I was being caused, the tension that was building, the amount of HOURS I was spending cleaning and getting them to clean was not worth it.

So I got rid of it. Nearly all of it. About 80% of it, anyways.

Baby toys that I thought Molly would need. Gone. She has a couple, but not the huge Rubbermaid container full she had before. And I think she'll manage.

Foam letters that had really never been used for educational purpose but merely as something to scatter. Gone.

Noisemakers. Stuffed animals that weren't part of the elect that are in the kids' beds. Gone and Gone.

Scads of cars, helicopters and airplanes that just sat there in a bin waiting to be dumped over but never really played with. Gone.

I did keep some things. If the boys recently got it, it's been kept. If it has been homemade, it's been kept. If there is a fair degree of sentimental value attached, it has been kept.

And even though they are still in the house while they await transport to Salvation Army, the fact that I'm detached from them and anticipating all the stuff being gone is very, very freeing.

I know the propensity to play the Mess game is still in there. I know it speaks to the need to do more structured activities with the boys or get them out of the apartment more often, but at least now, when the toy population has been whittled down to less than half of what it was before, it is such a huge relief.

Ah...this world and its attachments! I am grateful for the things we have, but also aware of the burden they can become when we get attached to them. Here's to fewer things and greater peace of mind!

Friday, August 3, 2012

When Kids Say Prayers

Sometimes, prayers that kids recite may be a little confusing. With words like "thee" and "thy" it is definitely understandable that kids may be able to recite them, but they really don't understand what the words mean.

This was demonstrated when Michael comes running up to me with a coaster we had in our house in his hand. He was SO excited, as if he found a wonderful treasure. "Mommy! Mommy! Is THIS the blessed fruit of thy womb?