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on to today's post....

He still checks the mail everyday in hopes that it will contain birthday money.
His 5th birthday was 10 weeks ago.

He stares at lego catalogs and reminds me about the Lego RV camping set. So we talked about being grateful for all the legos he just received for his birthday a mere two months ago. We talked about how our small space doesn’t allow for endless toys. We talked about having more things and how it usually doesn’t bring happiness the way we think it will.

But honestly I love camping and I want to play with the Lego RV and camp set too. Christmas just seems really far away.

I told him “I will help you, but it will take work, and you will have to get rid of a lot of other toys. Let’s have a toy yard sale”. He’s on board. My 3-year-old on the other hand, not so much.

We spent an entire morning sorting toys and thinking about each one and at the end we had a nice big pile and their closet was organized nicely. My three year old came back into the room and said “I’ll get rid of this!” A single wooden train whistle that was a party favor. Then he held it close and after a long pause he said, “maybe not. No. Not this.” A he walked out of the room.

A whistle that he doesn’t even play with.

I immediately realized that he was too young for the concept of getting rid of something. He needed time to mature, and to let go.

So it is with adults as well. We need time to detach ourselves from our stuff. We may need to start slow. Especially if it isn’t already a habit. With each round of purging and de-cluttering we realize the freedom and space (literally and figuratively) that it brings to our lives.

Sometimes we just need the extra time to let go of something.

If you have the space, take the items that you don’t use anymore but just can’t seem to part with, put them in a box and store them away.
In six months revisit that box and you will be surprised at how time will allow you to let go of an object.
If you still can’t seem to let go of some of the items, either put them back in the box for another period of time, or it might be helpful to take a picture and see if that will suffice.

Give yourself some grace and allow some time to let go. But do work in that direction, because the freedom and extra space that it brings is amazing.

What My 3-Year-Old Taught Me About Letting Go

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