Bags and more (6-11)

• 6-9. Bags given to my daughter's kita. I won't count the many plastic bags seen here, in the canvas bag- I accumulate them and pass them along to the kita on a standard basis. I'm counting the 4 permanent bags, including the canvas one in which they are packed, which I passed on today (after asking if they would like them).

• 10. I wouldn't normally count this (plastic container), but since I have had it here in Germany, brought from the US, for 4 years and emptied it out into another, permanent gift wrap container, I will.

• 11. One might think this was normal trash, but since the girls held onto it for 6 months, removal counts as decluttering.
  

If it can't be worn in public, out it goes.

November 26 through 30th.

Out-grown and worn-out clothing, to the Orange recycling bin. Tat to the garbage.

Tidying Up

It's been a few months since we have done a thorough tidying in the girls'room. Since we are thinking about what they will need from the US, it seemed like a good time to go through and see what is actually still of use and what needs to be discarded, recycled or given away.

• So, here's a piece of electronics that is too young for the girls and
• too technologically obsolescent to be desired: one day outside with a note saying" Free for the taking", then the Orange bin.

Here are the crayons and pencils that I cleaned out of their art box.

• This entire bag is filled with broken pieces of toys, tchotchkes from Überaschungeier, toys from fast food chains or that come attached to children's magazines, and the equivalent.
• 
  

Here are various odds and ends, broken school materials, broken headphones, more tchotchkes.

• Here are magazines, catalogs and other printed material that has been cluttering up my shelves

Looking in the corners

A few more items. Broken bits and no longer used boxes and odds and ends.

Frugality

One of the traits we are trying to cultivate while decluttering is actually using the things we have and reducing as much as possible the number of new things we bring into the house.
Since we have a birthday party this weekend, I think we will have a bit of a setback, although I have told those who asked various add-ons that T2 might enjoy (eg, clothes for her standard sized doll) rather than new toys. Here on the left one sees the attitude of use up rather than bring in new applied to toothpaste (and no one who knows my clutter would believe how carefully I squeeze that toothpaste tube) and T1 with her pencils.
I actually think that's going too far and is effecting her handwriting, so I have taken them away and replaced them with new pencils. Nice thought, though!
On the right we see another of the tchotchke toys that come with magazines in this country: they break quickly and bring tears. I took this br0ken toy to recycling within a day of its arrival.

A good day's work

Sometimes when I start going through the girls' things, I am absolutely amazed by how rapidly they accumulate small pieces of trash, toys given away with magazines or with Happy Meals or with Überaschung Eis or yogurts. Empty game boxes, dried out pens, broken and used up crayons and pencils and general trash wasting their limited space. This took about an hour of work by both the German and myself, while distracting the girls with a new movie (Heidi on DVD).

Back in the game...

Today a pair of the husband's jeans went. They haven't been in shape to wear "on public" for a while and he considered just leaving them in the US, but T1 wanted the pockets for a craft project and so he brought them back (notice the missing pockets:)). Out they go.

With them go this pair of Regenstiefel (rainboots). We loved them, but one of the seams has given way, a damaged Princess jewelry case, and the half of a matryoshka tin, for which we can't find the other half.

Luggage downsize

Last night we pulled out some suitcases to start considering what to bring with us as we head out on vacation. It's a it of a split vacation: we start with a week in our old house, sleeping on foam rubber (that we need to buy) and borrowing dishes as we pack up our house in Westchester in readiness to turn it over (now unfurnished) to our new tenants. We want to get it completely ready to sell it next spring, because we are tired of dealing with it and we have made the final determination that if we ever return to the US and live, it won't be to the school district where our current house is located.

Then we will head upstate for almost two weeks, unpack into our storage unit, and spend time with family. But the day we get back, we need to leave immediately for a family reunion in Southern Germany, where we will then spend an additional week. So I need to think about what we will need, where we will need it, and what the weather will be like. It's complicated.

We generally go over with suitcases within suitcases, bringing back far more than we take with us and I expect that we will do so again, as we load up on items that are not findable here (here I come, Crystal Lite and brown sugar) but this suitcase was in such terrible condition it's just not worth bringing back: I wouldn't trust it to survive baggage handling as a stand alone suitcase, so why bother (see the broken handle and ripped fabric?).

In addition, while the girls were putting away their doll clothes, I was able to discard: an empty box,

some cardboard picture corners (a real down size because they were there for "future possible use",
a Princess tattoo was used now, rather than save for later:

and while digging through bags, looking for doll shoes, we were able to pull out a handful of squashed candy and other detritus that went into bio and into trash:

Another good day.

Doll Storage and Ikea

Today I pulled out two laptop power supplies that have been annoying me each time I clean under them. Both have US plugs, both could be used for the German's current laptop, both won't be as he has a power cord with German plugs.

We took these to the recycling point, but were glad to hand them off to the folks at the gate who ask for any electronics: I am very glad to not add to solid waste and if someone can take the time and energy and sell these (and by doing so, get more use out of them), I am very happy for them.
Our visit to the center also allowed me to drop the accumulation of dead batteries and empty out a drawer.

We also dropped off some cardboard boxes (T2 moved to a three point car seat this past month): we try not to overwhelm the cardboard bin in the cellar— these count because they are not ordinary refuse to us.

Finally, we went to Ikea and returned two clothing storage bags, a multi-candle holder, a light cover and a light cord: if we haven't used them now, I'm guessing we aren't going to for a while (although in the case of the light, that might not be true:we may need to re-buy it). But the German was being proactive:).

To show how hazardous it is to go to Ikea, we also picked up a bookcase while we were there. I was planning on putting it next to T1's computer desk and using it as a storage center (with rods) for her doll clothes. But once we got home (after a stop at Kaufland to do the week's shopping), I decided that the Expedit that we have in the living room could have three boxes emptied and be used for doll storage and that meant that we could return the new bookcase we had just gotten.

Does that count as a downsize when we haven't even opened the box? I'm going to say it does. And on the de-clutter side, the German bought (instead) an insert of two drawers that fits into a single box, a metal rod to use as clothing rods (after being sawed into the correct sizes) and two sets of rod ends (from Bauhaus, the German equivalent of Home Depot).

As he was putting it together today (Sunday), we discovered that the book case was a bit too hardened for the screws of the rod ends, but no matter: I know where the double-sided, good to 45 kg, tape is: score for de-cluttering drawers!

T2 is ecstatic: she just ran around gathering up all her doll clothes to hang them  and her accessories to put in the drawer.

 A very good start to the week.