They’re only things

WARNING: I am obsessed with being closer to Jesus, and making my home a happy place.

I’ve read some great books lately that have really changed the way I feel about “stuff”.  First was Organized simplicity, then at the suggestion of my former sister-in-law, I read Almost Amish. 

I feel like I am in a constant battle with STUFF.  I’ve always sort of thought that it just comes with the territory of having children.  But then I realized it doesn’t have to. {I wish I knew this 10 years ago, don’t you?} 

My children have plenty.  I remember being at a party a few years ago when a little boys rubbery outdoor ball popped.  He was angry and upset.  So to stop his tears, the mom quickly responded with “oh don’t worry about it, we’ll just buy you another one”.

WHAT?  Did you really just tell your kid that you would buy another one?  I mean even if you fully intend on replacing it… don’t make that a default. 

We live in a world where everything and even some relationships are perceived as replaceable.  Our landfills are full and our divorce rates are out of this world. 

Our family is getting better about not getting our kids so many toys.  And I want to get better about this too.  You see, my kids still have so much STUFF.  I don’t want to raise children that expect gifts at each birthday and holiday. 

We had a garage sale a few years ago where we sold 9, YES I SAID N.I.N.E, totes FULL of toys.  Big huge totes… at like a quarter a piece… it was craziness.  All of our shoppers were thrilled at our great deals.  Towards the end I even started filling paper sacks and boxes with toys and marking them FREE. 
It made me overjoyed to not be picking up or telling my daughter to pick up her toys all of the time.  But, it also made me sad.  I was sad to think of all the money our family/friends (and us) had spent on those toys.

There are so many things I’d love to ask for, for my children.  School supplies, like printer paper (you have no idea how much paper we go through here), tape, markers, pencils, and workbooks.  They wear clothing everyday, and they actually enjoy getting clothing too.  But those aren’t “fun” gifts.  And really, I’d love to see quality time given as a gift.  And even more so, I’d love to see money donated to a reputable charity, in their honor. 

I feel like I don’t get enough quality time with my children because we are so consumed by things.

We will be having another garage sale this year.  This time, I am NOT holding back, and I am not going to feel guilty about letting stuff go.  Thankfully I have my practical, sentimental husband to help balance this process out.  But I hope to downsize greatly. 

I’m tired of feeling consumed because I feel like our house gets smaller by the day.  I want my children to be creative and having too many things actually makes that much harder to do.  They never have to come up with ways to improvise or use their imagination, because everything is already there for them.

It is my hope that in doing this, we will live a happier, more peaceful, God centered life.  Sometimes I struggle to connect with God when I’m so consumed by the materialistic things of this world.

And just to be clear, I’m not saying our kids need to only play with rocks and sticks (although we did this earlier in the week, and they had a blast).  There are some toys that I love, like Lego.  Both the boy and the girl like them, and they play with them together.  They can be passed down to future generations, and they are really fun for all ages.

Have any of you done this?  Or wish you could, but don’t know where to start?  Or are you just cool, calm, and collected when it comes to stuff?