My dear hubby told me last week I was not allowed to stay in my house all day everyday, again. Since I hurt my hip (I have arthritis and a torn labrum in my right hip-which makes, walking, sitting, driving, standing, going up stairs, basically existing, painful) about 7 weeks ago I've pretty much been keeping to myself in my home for the better part of the time...
I am starting to get a little stir crazy.
So my hubby helped some very good friends of ours move some things to their new house this weekend. On his way home, he called to tell me I was to make myself available to my friend any time she needed me this week because 1)They haven't moved in 15 years and they have 8 children and 15 years worth of stuff and 2) I need to get out...
So today I went over and helped pack and load stuff up. I came to the realization of something very alarming about me...
I am no longer a sentimental person!!!
She had these poster boards all folded up that her twin boys did in Kindergarten (they're in 6th grade now). I was thinking, "seriously? Girl-toss this-they are folded up poster boards with pictures. Cut the pictures out if you're that sentimental about them." But she had such a look of love and remembrance of her boys at that age that I suddenly felt very bad about not keeping all the stuff over the years that my kids have brought home...
...
Oh no, before you start accusing me of being that momma that dumps all their art projects in the trash when they turn their backs to me...I keep stuff, ok? I generally put the younger ones art work on their bulletin boards in their rooms until gravity takes over, and the law of nature consisting of construction paper, feathers, and glitter cause the children to naturally tear the project up. I also, occasionally, will throw a project in their boxes that contain school work from preschool to present-but I'm pretty much just unsentimental... I don't want to keep any of it. I guess that's a problem?
Maybe I need to be more sentimental. I feel badly that only 1 child in my house has a completed scrapbook and even that looks like she did herself when she was 10. My son is 6 months in his scrapbook and little Em's scrapbook is still wrapped up in the package it came in. The last two children don't even HAVE a scrapbook. I'm pretty sure my computer died shortly after ME was born, so there are pictures that I thought I saved on a hard drive that are floating in some technological cyberspace black hole forever hidden to me.
So my attempt at sentimentalism (is that even a word?) is there, it's just been tough to keep all that crap-er, I mean stuff, er, I mean lovely pieces of work, pictures, etc., etc. You get the gist of what I'm trying to say.
I've moved 4 times in 15 years. I also don't have the desire to pack up all that stuff. I've learned over the years, that what I need to keep is at least photos taken (which all my kids photos are actually in the current frames, busting at the seems, I'm sure)and a few mementos from school, but I guess I long ago adopted the adage, I can't take this stuff to Heaven, so if I can live without it, I can do without it.
My kids used to ask why I threw out all their school work, now they pretty much know to tell me, "Mom, don't throw this away quite yet." Or, "Mom, I know you want to toss this, it's ok with me."
I love my kids. I guess they have learned we all have our faults, and certainly me not being sentimental is one of my many.
Have a blessed Monday.
Lovely post! Today was a glorious day! I drove back from Ithaca (where it was gray and cloudy into sunny Buffalo). Let's get together really soon, maybe some of us can get together on Wed. to say the rosary?
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