Update: Operation Clean-Out, Day #1

Wow, I think I have hit on some kind of nerve with this clean-out, because I have gotten more messages from folks about this than almost anything I have ever written about, save for my health* and my experience with post-partum "blech" (yes, that is a technical term). It seems that everyone, even the most organized out there, may be feeling the desire to let go of things, make room, clear out clutter, etc. I'm certainly learning to love less as I get older (and especially as my kiddo accumulates more stuff), but I think that there is something bigger going on in the culture to spur on this collective paring down. Maybe it's the recession, at least in part?

Philosophizing aside, I wanted to post an update of how the first stage of clean-out went yesterday. Within a matter of hours, we got through most of EJ's closet, sifting through boxes of clothing, infant toys and accessories, and other random items that got collected over time. I found EJ's teddy bear mobile for my friend, Carrie, who mentioned that she'd like one for the imminent arrival of her third kiddo, and also set aside a cute Packers crawler and a UW-Madison rattle for the little guy. I was also able to set aside some big ticket items for my friend, Christina, who is due with her first in early fall, including two baby gates (still in the box) and a bouncer/soother seat. While I'm sure those would have sold quickly at a rummage sale, it is nicer to know that they'll go to good use with a friend, and in the crazy event that either myself or one of our siblings finds themselves expecting, she said she'd be happy to return them. What I won't need back, though, are the scads of adorable baby clothes we cleared out---again, some of them with tags still on---that are Christina's for the grabbing before we have a sale at all.

It was amazing to me, as I looked at the outfits, how little sentimentality I had for so many of them, given the fact that these were the clothes I simply could not part with the first time I sorted through all of EJ's baby things. At this point, all we have left from her 0-18 month wardrobe is one small crate of special items, and I easily could fit more clothing in there. I have no doubt that, in a year or two, I'll be able to pare down even more. My fading memory is actually my friend in this regard.

Another big accomplishment was the assembling and filling of a bookcase I purchased for EJ a few months ago, but could not fit in her room until her old crib had been taken apart and moved out. We discovered, when we bought her "big girl bed" this fall, that her crib would not fit through the door assembled---it would have been a good moment for a home movie, as it was a very Chaplinesque exercise in trying to fit something where it would not go. In the end, we put the crib in the corner to get out of the way until we had time to take it apart, where it fell off the urgent to-do list while things here were so busy. Last weekend, when Mike and I went to see Mary Poppins, my folks came down to spend the day with EJ, and my Dad surprised us by taking it apart and loading it out to go to their basement for storage. It was wonderful to see all that extra space, and started a chain of events that allowed us to move EJ's dresser to a better location, create a reading nook for EJ's room, assemble the bookcase, and load up the many, many, many books she has neatly into one spot.

While my mom helped me sort through the closet, my mother-in-law and EJ put together the bookcase. After assembly, which was basically a game for the kiddo, who was lining up bolts and turning screws into place with glee, my mother-in-law used her super-sorting-HGTV mind to fit all the books into the case in a neat and artful way. EJ was so proud of her work in the construction and organizing that she was very careful last night as she pulled out and put away her Olivia books for bedtime stories. Between the closet and the bookcase, the room is already so much neater, and it really feels like a kid room, not a nursery.

We didn't go through many toys together yesterday, as I had planned, because EJ got so involved in the bookcase project, but that is on deck next. I'm actually excited about it, because I know that she was so happy with the way her room was changing, I think she might have more incentive to sort. She is really starting to understand that there are some kids that don't have toys and books, and that she could help those kids to have more fun if she gives some things away.

On a side note, we had to go to the hospital pharmacy today to pick up a new prescription (more on that below), and while walking from the car to the building, we passed by the children's hospital playlot. EJ wanted to go in, but I showed her the sign that said it was for children at the hospital, only, along with their families. When I told her that some kids get very sick, and need to stay in the hospital, she said she thought it was great that they could have a place to play. When we met up with EJ's daddy a few moments later for a quick hello, she described the playground to him, and said, "It's just for kids that are sick, Daddy, at the hospital, and it is a GREAT playground for them, with a bridge, and a slide, and...etc." While I can't say that I think her "me, me, me, mine, mine, me" stage is over, a social conscience might just be forming, after all. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy, I must admit.

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*After years and years of low-grade symptoms and testing that came back normal or "low normal," I have officially developed an autoimmune thyroid disorder, and am beginning medication for hypothyroidism today. I have mixed feelings about being on medication for the rest of my life, as I'm sure everyone does when they have a chronic condition diagnosed, but mostly, I feel relieved that within a few weeks, I might start feeling better, and that this can be managed effectively. The doc told me that, leading up to thyroid failure, a lot of people can feel really hopeless and depressed, and when their labs come back normal, they don't know what to do. I felt grateful that I have had such a wonderful support group of family and friends to help me come through the last few months as well as I have, especially given my huge workload in completing my graduate degree. What a blessing.