40 Bags Update

I've been editting that other post, crossing things off and such, but it gets bogged down and I think my other posts are getting buried because each time I edit it, I move it to the top of the page, making it look like I haven't written anything else.

So, a quick update.

The kids have really worked hard on their rooms. They're not finished yet, but they've made AMAZING progress and I'm so proud because they've done much of the work.

I've cleaned out the kids' bathroom, with their help.

I cleaned out the bookshelves in the basement, getting rid of DVDs, Wii games, and books. I've finally given up (mostly) the delusion of an "educational" summer. Or at least the kind of education that includes worksheets and planned science experiments. I'm sure the kids will, once again, learn that water+dirt=mud and lots of fun. We'll go letterboxing and to the library, visit a museum or two, the zoo and the aquarium (yes, there is an aquarium in the desert of Salt Lake City). Hopefully, they'll learn to cook a meal or two.

Bruce read something somewhere that said that if you give your kids 12 books to read over the summer (and they do it) then that's really all the need to avoid the summer slump/knowledge loss. My kids are readers. They read everything they can get their hands on. And, as we've sorted through things, they've rediscovered their own libraries. So, in addition to the "stuff" leaving the house, I've gotten rid of a bit of guilt too.

However, there's some guilt still. A bunch of the books Alana wants to get rid of are cute books that my mom gave her. They're truly wonderful books. But they're for pre-schoolers and Alana's long since outgrown them. In a purge a while back, I did keep a pile of books, mostly Dr. Seuss books, for posterity. But really, how much can I keep? How much should I keep? It's not like books are going to fade out of our existance. But actual, physical books with pages to turn rather than screens to slide seem to be on the endangered list (I really hope not...there's nothing like the experience of reading a book...and besides, if you drop your Kindle in the tub.....). So, I'm passing on some of these books. They're going to the preschool program at my church, where I'm sure they will be well-loved. But I still feel just a tad guilty, and I wonder if there will be fall out from my mom when/if she finds out.

And then there are the sappy "To my Daughter with Love" books, also from my mom. I'm not really a sappy person. These books don't really speak to me, encourage me, or make me feel loved. They're too rosy, too lacy, too frilly for my taste. And yet. They're from my mom, and they speak of her love for me, in all it's imperfections. But they also irritate me. Doesn't she know who I am? Doesn't she realize that I'm not a lacy, rosy, frilly person?! Truthfully, these books don't bring me joy. In fact, I grind my teeth everytime I see them and so I don't really want to keep them. But they were given in love, so........

AAAHHHHHH!!!