Downsizing is quite an experience
- Laura Moore: Housebroken
- April 8, 2024
- 251
Recently, in order to downsize, we left our house and moved into a smaller new place. That was an experience.
We had already downsized on our last move, but that downsizing was just the beginning. It is amazing just how much “stuff” folks can accumulate in just a few years. This time we called in the children and asked them to look at what we needed to get rid of, some of which they might want. They came, of course, but not much was taken.
Actually, they wanted the things we were keeping. Oh, they managed to take a few things but not enough to make a difference. So Goodwill got a load of “stuff.”
And to be totally honest, some of the things we no longer needed, I still wanted
to keep. Why? Because I had come attached to them over the years. There is no reasonable explanation for that. I just want to have them stay with us. Downsizing is far more difficult than we had anticipated.
To complicate matters, our children have too much “stuff” of their own and weren’t that interested in adding to their “stuff.” Getting everything we are taking with us ready to move was a really big job.
Just clearing out the linen closet turned into a real pain. We had way too many sheets, some of which are too small for the beds we now have. I guess when we got rid of our old beds, the new ones were all queen size. Even the queen-size sheets, all of which are cotton, especially the fitted bottom sheets, have obviously shrunk. Making a bed now is a
real effort, a lot of pulling, tugging and the resulting exhaustion.
Next was sorting out our shed. A lot of that “stuff” can be given away, donated or trashed. Some will go with us but not much. The new place had no shed. We decided a lot of the Christmas decorations stored in the shed can be given to our children.
Now we had to address all the lawn “stuff,” things like various sizes of pots, a couple of birdbaths, a heavy metal table and chair set, and several lawn chairs. Our new place has no porch or patio, so most of the already mentioned lawn furniture was passed on to our
children.
Hopefully, in the years to come, we will not collect as much “stuff” as we have in the past. However, I’m not making any promises.