Decluttering (15th) - 92 items - Just Let It Go!

On Friday I cleared another 6 foot bookcase; there were 4 of them all full of books; now 2 are completely empty. I also sorted out my knitting wool, puttered around sorting some more bits and pieces, and reaffirmed my decision to NOT keep all the piles of little bits and pieces (more on those in another post).

One of the treasures I did decide to let go today was the Roll-a-Ball set. This used to be a favourite activity when my brother, sister and I visited our great-Aunt's house. We'd spend hours seeing who could get the ball the greatest distance around the track by means of the two tilting platforms controlled by knobs, without falling in a hole. My brother, who always had terrific hand-eye coordination, was the family champ.

When Aunt died in 2011 and we cleaned our her house, I brought the roll-a-ball here for my kids to enjoy. And they did. Occasionally. But they were probably already too old to get the most enjoyment out of it. Funny, though, how things we have fond memories of and want our kids to enjoy don't always translate to something they actually want to do! Now it gets used every now and then by visiting children, but it takes up quite a bit of space. I've decided it's time to just let it go - and pass it on to my brother for his children to enjoy; they're about the right age to have fun with it.

The bookcase I went through holds mostly books we like to read a lot - fiction that suits the whole family, and a small selection of children's books that I have kept both to read to the pre-schooler my daughter was looking after regularly, and to one day read to my grandchildren. I decided it was time to severely cull both categories - keeping only strong favourites in the children's group, and only books one or more remaining family members are certain they will want to read again. In the process, I selected 52 books to give away, and rearranged the remaining books on two shelves of the bookcase that is now down the hallway.

I also decided to pass our huge world atlas onto a homeschooling friend. There is lots of interesting detail in there, but it's not something we look at often anymore, and it takes up more space that is justified for what it gives in return.

I also sorted through our Lego. My kids haven't played with it in years. Again, it's useful for visiting children, but it is rarely used. This is something I've thought of getting rid of a number of times, but have always ended up keeping. I think that's partly engrained in my because of the fact my mother often told me how valuable Lego was, and kept all of our childhood Lego. The other day I texted my older 3 kids who have left home to ask if they cared what I did with it. Their responses were interesting:
"Nah, do what you like - when I have my own kids who are old enough, I'll buy new Lego"
"No, I don't care - haven't played with it in years."
"Whatever you want - I think it's funny you're even asking me!"
LOL - see what I mean about how we think not always translating to the kids and what they really want/need? Time to just let it go!
So, I sorted it out, and put the lego-like transformer pieces in a bag to give away locally, and the rest of the real Lego in a tub which I'm going to give to a friend with a younger child to play with for as long as she has any interest. Then I'll pass it on to someone else.

When I cleaned out the knitting stuff, I decided to get rid of the knitting/craft bag itself, 6 balls of yarn I'll never use, a zip-up bag, a project kit that I've had for years and never started, and a bag of trash - old wool labels, scraps of wool, old patterns etc. I also found 3 knitted dishcloths I had made, but never finished off by tucking the ends of the threads in. So I did that, and they're now in the kitchen drawer ready to be used.

Meanwhile, my daughters gave me 6 items of clothes they no longer want....

I found various random items on the shelves to toss.....

Along with a camera lens and spare cap for a camera that one son allegedly had at some point, which doesn't work.

And there was, of course, a bag of trash and a box of recycling (counted as 1 each)

So that's 92 items today, bringing the total count for the month to the 15th to 751 items gone! Yes, I've well exceeded the numbers suggested by the game itself that I started out playing, but getting rid of stuff feels so good! I'm not stopping now!