52 Things Will Leave the Mouse Pad (Round 2) Update

Dear Friends and Family,

It's a new year. And, I'm beginning another round of my clutter diet. The goal? I am going to try and have 52 things meaningfully leave the mouse pad this year. It's a purposeful decision to remove something that has found a home in our home. I'm evicting unwanted tenants.

There's different questions different people use to gauge what should stay and what should go. There's do I still love it, does it serve a purpose, when did I last use it, etc. My guiding light question will be knowing what I know today, would I buy this today?

The List (most recent departures listed first):

1. Erin, at work, LOVES the aqua globes she got from me as a white elephant gift. I have one more box of three in the basement. I think I'll bring them in today for her. I hope that's all of the aqua globes we have in the house. I'm beginning to think Mr. mouse has hoarder tendencies. I hope he never spirals out of control.
2. The other two baby gates, Mr. mouse brought three over for my sister (see below). These two didn't make the cut. They're loaded in my car so we can take them to Goodwill this weekend.
3. Two winter coats, both gifts from Mr. mouse's folks to me for the holidays, I wore one coat until it died on me and I'll never wear the other one unless my life depended on it.
4. Mr. mouse is going on a business trip that brings him within a short drive of my sister so we're doing another scrub of the basement for stuff that P is done with. The biggest and bulkiest would be the five baby gates that my sister needs that P is done with. We took the last ones down late last year so I'll be glad when they're out of the house. Three made it on the flight. Five was too bulky.
5. There's five books that P never really took a liking too. Two have licensed characters. Two we got as gifts, but P had moved beyond those books before we got them. And, one, kinda got lost in the basement. Apparently Mr. mouse took down more than five books. No definite number, just more than five.
6. There's three noise makers. P got them for her first Christmas. He took down two.
7. There's Mr. Potato Head. My friend at work got it for P. It was a life saver on our first trip with it when I had P with me in a middle seat. We played with it for hours. She's since outgrown it. Apparently she hasn't outgrown Mr. Potato Head. She was very sad to hear about it and pointed out that Mr. mouse had seen her playing with it last night. So, Candy Land and Chutes and Ladders went down instead.
8. There's a pull toy elephant that my best friend gave us. The one time P got attached to it was when we put it out during her second birthday party and Little Miss I Haven't Learned to Share Yet lost it and started crying about the elephant. The elephant went.
9. There's a peg puzzle with farm animals. P liked it, but she's outgrown it. The puzzle went.
10. Last, but not least, there's a bag of blocks. I think P might at some point develop a greater interest in blocks. But, I'm hoping the five bags of blocks we have will be plenty to build to her heart's desire. One more box of blocks went for a total of two sets of blocks. So, ultimately, some changes in what went, but I'll keep the tally the same.
11. useful, just not for us: house plant
12. useful, just not for us: exercise ball

The tally from 2012?

1. junk: 15
2. useful, just not for us: 14
3. toys: 11
4. baby gear: 7
5. odds and ends: 3
6. books: 2

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


Cheers!
mouse