We have moved firmly into a new phase of life, the de-acquisition phase. For many years I was focused on acquiring, adding children's books, puzzles, toys, and clothes to the collection for our growing brood. When we lived in Utah for 8 years I went to garage sales almost every weekend with my Mom, and I found a treasure trove of awesome stuff for little money. Over the years we amassed a great library and collection of all the puzzles and toys we could ever need.
But things change, and even the youngest child is rapidly outgrowing lots of our stuff. For years now I have been weeding things out and giving them away. When it comes to getting rid of toys or clothes I have had no problem or regrets whatsoever. I gleefully take big piles of stuff to Goodwill, and I love the feeling of less stuff and being unencumbered. But books are a different story.
Joseph recently pointed out that the bookshelf in his room is so filled with children's picture books that his chapter books and lego creations don't have enough of a home. Sigh. He's right. And that's after I have already heavily edited our collection of children's books many times. I left just the must-haves and how-could-you-ever-grow-out-of-this-book books, but apparently he's moved on.
I have a huge attachment to books. It might verge on being an obsession. As I have sorted through our children's books the last few years, I have given away several hundred, I'm certain. But I have also been boxing up and storing the "special" children's books so I can someday pass on to my grandkids (or have in my "grandma library".) The problem is that so many books meet my criteria of special that we have boxes of children's books under almost every bed, at the top of most of the closets, and in several bins in the garage. And now I have two more big piles in the hallway until I figure out where to store them. Help. I think I need an intervention.
Joseph recently pointed out that the bookshelf in his room is so filled with children's picture books that his chapter books and lego creations don't have enough of a home. Sigh. He's right. And that's after I have already heavily edited our collection of children's books many times. I left just the must-haves and how-could-you-ever-grow-out-of-this-book books, but apparently he's moved on.
I have a huge attachment to books. It might verge on being an obsession. As I have sorted through our children's books the last few years, I have given away several hundred, I'm certain. But I have also been boxing up and storing the "special" children's books so I can someday pass on to my grandkids (or have in my "grandma library".) The problem is that so many books meet my criteria of special that we have boxes of children's books under almost every bed, at the top of most of the closets, and in several bins in the garage. And now I have two more big piles in the hallway until I figure out where to store them. Help. I think I need an intervention.
In related de-acquisition news, I recently decided to clean out my many file folders which have been squeezed into one filing cabinet in the den. For 25 years now I've collected articles, stories, children's games and activites, etc. and filed them by topic. The files were helpful and even essential for a long time, but now just about everything I need is more easily accessed on the internet and I rarely sift through the files.
So I spent an afternoon pulling stuff out of files to put in the recycling bin. It was an interesting experience for me. I felt like it was an archeological dig, uncovering layers of myself over the years. . . the things I thought about, was concerned about, was focused on. I said goodbye to my files of lesson plans for teaching preschool and the articles I pulled out of countless magazines with craft patterns for little kids. No one in our house is interested any more. It's sad and it's also really okay.
Another thing I found and discarded was oodles of church lesson plans from years past. As I skimmed through the outlines I realized that even the way I teach has changed radically over the years. Not to mention the fact that I used to think it was so important to make a cute handout to go with a lesson and then save the original in case I wanted to re-use them. I am so over that!
Time to recycle and give away the old so we have room to embrace the now.
So I spent an afternoon pulling stuff out of files to put in the recycling bin. It was an interesting experience for me. I felt like it was an archeological dig, uncovering layers of myself over the years. . . the things I thought about, was concerned about, was focused on. I said goodbye to my files of lesson plans for teaching preschool and the articles I pulled out of countless magazines with craft patterns for little kids. No one in our house is interested any more. It's sad and it's also really okay.
Another thing I found and discarded was oodles of church lesson plans from years past. As I skimmed through the outlines I realized that even the way I teach has changed radically over the years. Not to mention the fact that I used to think it was so important to make a cute handout to go with a lesson and then save the original in case I wanted to re-use them. I am so over that!
Time to recycle and give away the old so we have room to embrace the now.
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