RE: Adventures in Minimalism - Letting Go Of Books
I used to be a book person, but never read the entire book. Mind you most books I have ever purchased were for self improvement or to learn about a subject. Books just have way to much filler to justify it being a book. Most should be cut down to a pamphlet and they would be so much better.
Personally haven't purchased a book in at least 8 years. Anything I want to learn about is at my fingertips and in a much more condensed version.
One the topic of minimizing my kids and I spent a day dealing with some of the "junk drawers" they had. Just all the stupid cheap toys from happy meals or party favors. They got rid of a ton of stuff and at the end they both said about the same thing, that it feels good to get rid of that stuff.
So nice to have a shelf back and a couple drawers that are now 60% empty vs having to fight to get them closed.
Isn't that the worst - how every storage space ends up packed with something and you end up having to fight just to access it? Why does it always end this way!
Glad to hear you got the kids on board with a purge. I imagine children make it a lot more challenging.
Oh they do!!!! Girls are really bad about it, they want to keep everything. Stuff equals memories for them. My oldest can remember who bought her each of her stuffed animals and when they gave it to her. She is 12 and can honestly remember things from when she was 2, it's mind blowing to me. So she is the worst offender.
The younger one is now 8 and just getting to that age where her "baby toys" as she just started calling them aren't cool and is willing to part with most of them. She still remember getting some of them as gifts and wanted to hold onto some that she hasn't played with in well over a year.
My goal was to purge what they were willing and not have any battles over it. They actually weeded out way more then expected so for now I'm happy.
We have files in the computer that are designated by family member then year. They are backed up in the cloud. Have you considered making and storing short videos of the kids talking about their favorite things so that if something does happen to them they will keep the memories? It may mean a lot to them to hear it in their own voice when they're older?
I like that idea a lot! Will have to see if they like the idea. Thanks!