Simplifying/living with less

PudseyDB

Judi wrote: »

When i was a teenager it was only then that i found out that Mom had binned my beloved 'Pandy' many years ago. It didnt matter about anything else she had chucked but i thought 'Pandy' was in the loft. I was so upset.

Only 2 of my 5 children took to a specific cuddly toy as infants and i was sure that their beloved soft toy wouldnt be disposed of in the same way as 'Pandy' was.

In fact when my daughter moved out of home 18 months ago i presented her with her much loved 'AG Bear', though he no longer talks and looks a bit worse for wear she was over the moon. He is now sitting on a bed in her spare room. One day she might chuck him but it wasnt my place to before she was ready.

My youngests' 'Boo Boo' is under my bed waiting to be presented to him when he leaves home. Whether he will take it though is a different matter.

Thats lovely! I dont have many teddies, but I do have Henry who I got for my 1st birthday. he's now 40 odd and now sleeps by my bed. I'm so glad Mum didnt chuck him out when I went to Uni.

maman wrote: »

I certainly wouldn't say it's not possible and for many it's a case of 'needs must'.

I've just checked my wardrobe and (not counting fleeces, jackets and waterproofs) I counted six coats. Theye're none of them cheap but I work on cost per wear and some of them are 10+ years old so I'm happy.

I have a fleece jacket that I still wear most days and is older than my eldest child. She's 17 so I'm guessing this fleece is 19 or 20 yrs old now. The kids wind me up about it, but it had no holes or worn bits and still proper dark black (not faded) and its comfy - so why should I stop wearing it, just cause I've had it for years

bestpud

Ooh it's been brought back from the dead!

One thing to consider OP:

As you know, I've been doing similar here, but I kept the plastic crate of youngest daughter's 'things' she has made, certificates, her first shoes, hospital band, cards she has received over the years, books etc she made at nursery/brownies... (you know the kind of stuff?) intact.

I had considered condensing it as it's going to be at least 2 crates by the time I've gathered more current bits and put them in.

But, you know what, she spotted it a couple of weeks ago and had a fabulous time going through it all, remembering some bits and discussing others.

I'm very glad I didn't touch it!

I guess I'm saying to exercise caution as there will almost certainly be a time when your children (and you) will enjoy looking at old bits and pieces that can seem inconsequential at the time.

I overdid it with my older two and just kept loads of stuff so there is a happy medium, but it's worth considering anyway.

midnightraven3

Lalaladybird wrote: »

BlondeHeadOn - I feel that my role as a parent is to provide for my childrens needs, love them and teach them how to be good people. Letting them have lots of material possessions and flitting from one activity to the next are not valuable lessons IMHO. I would ask them first if we can pass on the toys they don't use much of course.

but you have only just jumped to this change of lifestyle yourself
so up till now "flitting from one activity to the next" has been good enough for them (isnt that what children do? isnt that how they learn?)

decluttering is an excellent thing to do, very cathartic

but you are forcing it onto your children
children like stability, for all you know they could be worried you are now poor and having to sell everything

i dont understand why you give them things to play with
why not just let them choose themselves?
maybe they wouldnt flit from one thing to another as they will be playing with something the actually want to rather than you have given them

if the rest of the house is changing so much, let them have their toys