A few things

While I'm travelling (and without acces sto the interwebs, I think), here are a few items I downsized before leaving. The usual Disney feeble hanger: garbage. Purple egg that held a tchotchke and for some reason was being held as a treasure by T2 (although she hasn't noticed it's gone...) and a decorative sticker from T1's dresser that has lost its stick: plastics recycling.
And here you see a box. Saved because I generally save boxes, but after three years, I think I probably won't be needing to send it for repair in its original box and it's not a fragile item that needs that box for moving: paper recycling.

Beginning to accumulate

Here are a few of the things that I am accumulating, one item at a time, to give to T2's old kita when we get back from vacation.

• a small Snow White costume, skirt and top,
• a pair of pants- I don't love the color,
• a Cinderella costume in 2 pieces,
• a Cinderella nightgown,
• and finally, a pair of pink camouflage shorts.

I pulled these out this spring as T1 is finally large enough to wear them, but I have issues with these shorts on multiple levels.

First, I think that it is ridiculous to pinkify everything. It's sexist and alienating and I am offended by the pink Lego set that I saw that has fewer interesting pieces than the standard, or blue one.

Next, unless one has a reason to wear camo (hunting, say, or running around hiding in the woods- as I have done while wearing it), I think it dimishes and normalizes war concepts.

Good enough reason for the donation box. Although I think I need to toss these into the Kleiderspende: now that I think of it, I don't think these would be wearable at the Kita for those reasons as well!

Sentiment recorded

I keep wondering how to deal with what the children make: crafts, art, projects. I have strung a line along the hallway and I clip up some of the more recent and interesting 2-D projects, but they do pile up.
This was a very cute little man made by T2 this year in Kita. The head is a balloon with googly eyes glued on, it has a neck ruff and its body is made from a solo cup filled with beans. It has interesting cut out geometrical shapes glued on it and a base made out of cardboard that also forms feet. It was cute. And now we have a memory of it.

A few more things

Here is a toy (now in pieces) that is a poor copy of a better German toy (children put the pieces together in a correct sequence and then a ball or a marble will travel through the structure). Bad, smaller version that came with magazine. In plastics recycling. Also a Disney lipstick: I hate when the girls wear lipstick: I am always fearful what they are made of, if they will share with friends, if it's toxic: garbage.

And here is a kite made by T2 last year in Kita. A bag, a stick, a piece of string. She loved it, but a year later, I think it can go.

This is sort of fun.

Or may be it's a little frightening that I keep finding things that have been here too long! There does seem to be a theme that I am finding it easier to cull the childrens' things. On the other hand, when my things are broken, I tend to either throw them out or fix them, so I don't have as much low hanging fruit.
In the first photo, you see a bunch of catalogs : I hang on to catalogs for a while to consciously decide whether I actually want to buy anything. About 99.99% of the time, the answer is: No. Then the catalogs can pile up: into recycling they go.

You also see a hairband that my kids don't like (into the accumulation bag for the re-opening of the Kita). That's also where that strange stuffed animal will go, while the strange plastic eggs just went into recycling. The little Pooh fake phone is one of the tchotckes that comes with T2's Winnie the Pooh magazine subscription. I hate those things. Badly made, makes T2 sad when they break (as they do quickly). You see the same in the second photo, where the unmelodious and non-usable guitar can be seen. The phone goes to the Kita, the guitar in the garbage (as does T1's much thumbed over and loved American Girl catalog: she has more current ones and we will be visiting the store next week. Also, good-bye old crown from birthday party.

For whom does the clock ring?

For nobody (or everyone) since the hand broke and there is no way to change the time or the alarm setting.This goes off to small appliance recycling, because I'm not certain into what garbage it should go and recycling is so close, why not ask? There's also a small toy cow that's been broken for a while, a broken hanger found on the closet floor, a party thank you and miscellaneous info saved by my pack rat older daughter and the battery to the clock which will be recycled as well. I'll be needing to get T1 another alrm clock, but we will probably look after vacation.
The tattoo went on T2's arm, in my drive to actually consume consumables:).

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.