Goal: 52 Things Will Leave the Mouse Pad

Dear Friends and Family,

There's a site, I like, that I'm using as inspiration on how to get the clutter in the house under control.

I lost the kitchen battle the other morning when Mr. mouse claimed foul on the two additional measuring cups he never uses. Yep. That's the hill he wanted to die on. So, I'm trying a different tactic.

I am going to try and have 52 things meaningfully leave the mouse pad this year. What do I mean by meaningfully? No, it doesn't mean I'm giving away things loaded with meaning. It means it's purposeful decisions to remove something that has found a home in our home. In other words, clearing out old bananas doesn't count, they never found a home. Clearing out old toys counts since they would linger in the basement given no active actions on our parts.

The List (most recent departures listed first):

1. P wants to give my cousin's son a thing. I'm not sure how to describe it. It's almost like a security blanket. It's almost like something you can lay a baby on. It's almost like a stuffed dog without the stuffing. She got it when she was born and never got attached to it. The other night, she pulled it out of her bin and asked me what it was. I told her it was for babies to lie on or little girls or little boys to sit on. She declared that she wanted to give it to my cousin's baby. So, we brought it downstairs and put it in a bag so that we can drop it off this weekend. I almost feel guilty and proud at the same time that she's so generous.
2. Toy train that Mr. mouse's parents gave P for her first Christmas - she liked playing with it in general. She loved dancing to it when we turned it on. It was one of her few battery operated toys. I like it, but I can't see keeping it forever. I think I'm okay with one toy per year as a memento, at least for now. The train will go to my cousin's house as long as Mr. mouse is okay parting with it. If he's not, it'll come off this list.
3. Stacking pyramids. P got them from one of my girlfriends for her first birthday. She loved wearing them as bracelets and jangling them. There's more inventive things for her to build with so I'm okay giving them to my cousin as well.
4. Hammer and eight nails toy - it was a gift from my parents for P's first Christmas. She never really played with it. It was good for when we had friends come over. I hope my cousin doesn't mind all of the toys. They're all in near new condition.
5. Mr. mouse's cane from his 40th birthday. He got it as a gag gift. It needs to go. Perhaps there's someone at Salvation Army who can use the cane. It's functional. It's just that no one in our house needs a cane right now.

We'll see if I can get to 52 this year. I'm cautiously optimistic.


Cheers!
mouse