Friday, January 22, 2016

Possessions


Playing is such a serious matter...



... when you're two, or four. The little ones don't do much sitting and staring into space. But then, neither do I, I suppose.

I'm glad we kept those toys from our children's childhood.

There's been a lot of publicity recently about a recent book on decluttering. I wouldn't say that we live with clutter, but on the other hand, we're not minimalist. For example, you can see a shelving unit behind Granddaughter that has completely useless items on it. But I like them, my bits and pieces of glass and china, and from what I gather, the decluttering lady guru says that's all right - if they give you joy, which they do. There are, however, items of clothing in my wardrobe that I seldom, if ever, wear (there's a bit of fantasy involving being able to fit into things that I haven't fitted into for some years). I should probably discard some of these.

Is it impressive or embarrassing? - I can't decide - that we're going to the wedding in May of a young man whose parents' wedding we went to 25 years ago, and I still have and occasionally wear the blouse and jacket that I bought for that occasion. The skirt acquired a tear some years ago and I did throw that out.

I think I might not bring these items back into service for the approaching wedding.

11 comments:

  1. It looks like homey clutter and I like that! On the other hand, several of my counters and a few rooms are just plain messy and I need to work on that. :)

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  2. I"m not sure how I found your blog, but I do enjoy reading it, and all the more since we, too, became grandparents. I think a lot of this "minimalism"/decluttering is driven by having bought fashionable items that are now not this year's fashion so out they go. We came from a different era, when a young couple built up household items slowly, many of them family cast-offs, and expected furniture and kitchen devices to last many years. As for clothes, yes a few favourites deserve their place in a closet, and a couple of "I'd like to fit that again" pieces are an incentive!
    Your grandchildren look lovely, happy little people. Our 9 month boy astonishes me with how he learns new things every day - wonderful to watch.

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  3. Lucky children to be able to play so creatively when they come to visit you. We have the farm toys from our children`s days and our two little granddaughters get the farm arranged across the floor as soon as they arrive.

    Minimalism? OK for some but not for us!

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  4. Probably a wise move......

    I like to have my 'stuff' around me, because they are all there for a reason.

    Play is very serious, and just think how much is being learned at the same time!

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  5. I keep everything. It's hard to part with stuff. Recently I sent a load of teddy bears off to Goodwill and it was one of the hardest things I've ever done.

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  6. Virginia hit the nail on the head with her comment ". We came from a different era, when a young couple built up household items slowly, many of them family cast-offs, and expected furniture and kitchen devices to last many years" - very true.
    And Jenny almost quoted me when I wrote on another forum that my husband's garage is a mess but that's the way he likes it, and my craft room looks like a mess to him but I know where everything is and am not parting with a single thing!"
    I don't have a problem parting with clothes, as I have a simple rule that keeps the wardrobe in check: Something new in, something old out.

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  7. I sent 3 full black bags to our local charity shop on Friday. Clothes. Things I have not worn for years and will never wear. I have no idea why they were still cluttering my room. But they are gone and I could do this again next week and get rid of more and never notice the absence. Not that I have a huge wardrobe to choose from, I just never throw old things away! That has to change....

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  8. Haha - I think that's impressive! I have a few articles of clothing like that myself vi think my family would say it's embarrassing though LOL!

    I have way too much stuff. But, almost all of it gives me joy. That's why I have it! I need to learn how to be less joyful - for the kids' sake!

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  9. I am impressed by the fact that your precious shelved items have remained intact. Did you have to move them out of the way at their crawling stage?

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  10. I hate the idea of paring everything down in that regimented way - sometimes the pleasure of finding something you haven't seen for a long while, and rediscovering the pleasure that might have worn off at the time you put it away, is too precious to risk for a 'tidy' house.

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  11. Impressive, not embarrassing.

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