Giving Away My Children's Childhood

Pardon me while I wipe the tears away. I'm cleaning out. And it is such hard work. Not because of the physical difficulty, but the emotional. I'm giving away my children's childhood.

I'm not, I know. I'm giving away their toys. Those objects that occupied my kids for hours on end and brought them endless joy. It makes me sad to part with these brightly colored, loud, light-up monstrosities. As it was, Elmo Live! was still yelling at me to sing and dance. But as I packed Elmo away (face down because I'm kind of cruel), this is what I'm really thinking about:


Also, my son HATED any of those toys that sang and danced. Until this Christmas, he was terrified of them and this Elmo is the one that helped him over his fear.

I packed up my diaper bags and Baby Bjorn. The diaper bag/backpack that I took when we went to Hawaii when my son was not even two.

Hardest for me is the Fisher Price Little People. The farm set has been kicking around our house for nine years. My daughter spent hours upon hours in her room with them all set up.



I'm certainly happy to be freeing up space in closets, the playroom and the basement. We're going to start the process of finishing our basement and the first step is cleaning it out. This will certainly help. Then, the playroom will get moved to the basement/family room and I will get an official office. It is all good and this hard work needs to be done first. I know it. I just can't figure out why I have such an emotional attachment to stuff.

My kids want for nothing (unless you ask them and I'm sure they could list all the things that they don't have). They have and have had more toys than they even know what to do with. They will not miss most of what I'm giving away. And we're donating to a good cause. It is all for large non-profit garage sale that is held every year to benefit people living with Multiple Sclerosis. Hopefully, this helps the cause.

I know that giving away these toys does not change the quality of my children's childhood, other than to teach them how to be charitable. It won't change the good times. Keeping the toys will not make them little again.



I know that there are people out there who can just give things away. I talked to a woman recently who was looking to give away her wedding dress. She said she gives away everything and hates that she has to keep some mementos for her kids. I envy that ability. I haven't even give away the supplies I used to make the favors for my wedding.

So, I keep cleaning and piling stuff up. My donation pile is impressive. Somehow there is not as much room as I thought there'd be, but it is a start. I am happy to have the stuff out, but I still feel guilty. My kids are growing up too fast, even without me giving it away.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My Life Was Changed By A Standard Comma

Image
Last night I was having a conversation with a friend about those missed opportunities in a Sliding Doors (if you've never seen the Gwenyth Paltrow movie , you really need to check it out) sort of way. You know, one small interaction can drastically change the outcome of a situation. Then, I posted a funny meme on my author page about commas. Way back in the day, I was taught to use the standard comma, as illustrated above. Only recently, when trying to name my book, Jump, Jive, and Wail , did I, at the advice of my author posse, start using the Oxford comma. After looking at this meme, I realized that the standard comma changed my life. Way back in 1997, when I was still in college, Congress passed this thing called the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. A lot of people probably don't remember it. I do, because it hit along with a major reform in insurance reimbursment. As a result of the BBA, there was a spending cap put on, amongst other things, outpatient therapy services t
Read more

This Is My Last Post

Image
This is my last post ... while I'm in my 30s. Tonight, while I sleep, before the cats and my bladder wake me up, I'll turn forty. I'm not thrilled. I'm trying to wrap my head around the fact that age is a number. However, as I battle wrinkles, acne, and gravity, not to mention stiff joints and terrible eyesight, sometimes I feel like age is a real thing. On the other hand, about five or six years ago, I was sick and the doctors didn't know what was wrong. I was tested for tons of things, including myeloma and lymphoma. One doctor thought I may have a form of vasculitis that only had an 80% 5 year survival rate. I remember thinking that there was a 20% chance I wouldn't see forty. Luckily for me, that's not what it was, and I'm alive and kicking. So, rather than focus on the negative, I'm going to think about the great things that have happened over this last decade. I do have to give my mom props for starting off my 30th year with a surpris
Read more

Miss Chick Lit

Image
In order to celebrate International Chick Lit month, my latest main character has found herself entered in the Miss Chick Lit 2015 contest. She's not the most girly of girls, so this should be interesting. Read on to see how she represents herself, and for a chance to win a prize yourself! Hi, my name is Kaitlin Reynolds, and I'm representing the great state of, um, New York. No, Utah. Oh crap, I live in Michigan now. I'm representing the great state of Michigan. I'm a twenty-nine year-old former ski jumper who now spends her time pining after unavailable Olympic figure skaters. My dream is to one day improve the real estate market in Detroit so I can sell my condo. Oh, and world peace. For my entry in the swimsuit compet--wait, I've got to put on a swimsuit for this thing? No one told me that. Nuts. You see, I'm a former athlete who may or may not have let herself go since an injury stopped her competitive career. This is going to be tough. I mean, I l
Read more