I can't keep everything my daughters own

I already posted today, but something has popped into my head, something I'm struggling to accept: I can't keep everything my daughters' own.
My oldest is 13 and just finished maintaining her already decluttered room. She decided to take it a step further and removed her Teen Beach Movie posters from her walls. She also removed her Spider-Man poster that she's had since age two. She folded them and placed them in her closest, so she's not donating them yet, but it did make me so sad to see this stuff gone. She's growing up, and though I want to keep everything she's ever been into, something from every stage she's experienced, I have to accept that I can't. I am struggling with my 10 month old's stuff at the moment as well. Perhaps it's because I'm returning to work after taking the school year off for maternity leave, but seeing my daughter's almost bare walls made me sad.
She also handed me some books saying, "These can be donated, I've never read them," and I almost wanted to keep them, even though she doesn't even care about them!

The point is, I need to realize that I can't everything she wants to give away. This is her stuff and her choice. I will admit, I'll probably ask to keep the Spider-Man poster, but I have to accept and respect her choices of what she's ready to part with. This will be so hard, but I have to stay strong!

Comments

Decluttering-Getting Rid of Facebook

I have a month left of maternity leave. To say that I'm overwhelmed is an understatement. I've spent the last year decluttering my house. I recently realized that I need to declutter my social media as well. I don't have a Twitter or Instagram. I only recently got a Snap Chat. I joined a decluttering group about a month ago. At first it was very helpful. I was glad to find other people who were on the same journey as I. I noticed a few shared blogs of their journeys. I thought that was a fantastic idea and shared three posts of my own. It was then announced that posting your own blog wouldn't be allowed. I panicked. I felt like I was in trouble, that I did something wrong. I am in a state right now where I am struggling postpartum so what some may have seen as not a big deal, was a big deal to me. I apologized for sharing my blog, trying to explain that my own posts would be too long so that's why I shared it. But I continued to panic, and with fight or flight, I...

Teachers: Enjoy Your Parental Leave

This time last year, I was planning for every day that I would be on maternity leave. My due date was August 25, so I would only be with my kids for two weeks before I would be gone. I worked tirelessly, uploading lessons to tes.com , so all the substitute would have to do was hit "play" on the slideshows. I got copies made, planned on speaking with my substitute weekly (which I did), and thought I would also connect with the students somehow if I read their journals and wrote them back, along with their personal narrative essays. I was going to take only two months off so that it would be like I was never absent. I ended up not going back . Prior to all of this, I asked other teachers what they did while on leave. Almost all said that they provided lesson plans and graded EVERYTHING while on leave. I also heard a horrifying story of a teacher mom who was getting phone calls while her baby was in NICU because the substitute couldn't find a binder with copies that...

Seventh Generation Pod Laundry Detergent Review

I've been really interested in simplifying everything we use, including what we use in our surroundings. I've cut down on most things in the laundry room. I purchased some Norwex dryer balls two years ago and stopped using fabric softener. I tried using All Free & Clear, but found it would leave an odd smell to my clothes after. I started using Seventh Generation Dishwasher detergent; I purchased it from Sprouts and it came in a box and is in loose powder form. It has lasted us quite a long time vs. the Sprouts pods we were using! We are very much all about saving money while using better products for our family, so I thought that if the dishwasher detergent was great deal, then I'd like to try the laundry detergent. I looked up the company and they have a program called Generation Good that will let you try free samples if you give a review of their product after. So I reached out because I wanted to try them. I'm not getting paid or anything like that, I j...

Simplifying My Life

Search This Blog