Destash challenge

This is the first week in the past few months that I haven't given away a box of stuff... I can probably set it back to January... I plan to get rid of at least another bag of stuff by end of today. Luckily a friend is adopting a child from india and is doing a fundraiser rummage sale so I have been able to get rid of my usable stuff to her :) But wow, I could easily be a hoarder. I have such a difficult time getting rid of stuff! Before that I was frequenting Goodwill. Before my daughter's birthday we helped her pick some out of use toys to donate or get rid of. We also sent a few toys back with my mom when she visited that my nephews could use.

So to help with the destash I have a few rules:
- if it doesn't fit and it has a stain, gone.
- if it belongs on a wall and it isn't there, gone.
- if it is a shoe and it doesn't fit, gone.
- if it is a book or magazine and i won't read it, gone.

Scrap fabric I'll likely never use!

I also have some of my diaper bags up for sale and plan to do the same with newborn cloth diapers.

Simple right? Apparently I have issues :)


I also need to keep up with a one in two out rule.

Holiday traditions - keeping up the traditions, when all seems lost

Every family has traditions they grew up with that they either love or hate. Of course if we love them we try to pass them down, but if we're not so sure about them, we may not see the value in passing those down. However, we must consider that perhaps, some of the traditions we may not truly love, we may appreciate enough to carry on for our kids, just as our parents or grand parents did.

A big part of parenting is making decisions that are right for your family. For some reason your parents thought that a tradition was important enough to pass down: whether it is baking a dozen kinds of cookies, heading to the temple weekly, or giving foot rubs through Easter, if you remember them (and aren't entirely scarred!) consider taking some time to pass them down! Talk to the previous generation and ask the questions you didn't know when you were young - you never know what you may learn, and be able to pass on and teach your child. As technology becomes more of a common-place for our children, there is a likelihood that some of the "niceties" of family togetherness may be lost. Just as much as your family's traditions are there, talk to your spouse/significant other/baby's daddy/mommy and find out what traditions are there. It takes a village to raise a child, and sometimes it just takes generations of family to really mold a child's interest in their heritage.

Giving back

Now that Halloween has passed, we enter the time of thanksgiving. Being thankful in a world where many of us want not, is especially important. The company I work for full time in my "real" life sent an e-mail notifying us that we each had $25 to put toward a project related to a K-12 school. Previously I had been introduced to this organization as my cousin, a teacher, had put up a request for funds to assist in his teaching endeavor.

Basically, through DonorsChoose.org, Donors, like you and I, can assist teachers in funding solutions to their every day work life - and OUR every day community.

If you have some extra money this month, why not consider helping a teacher in your area? If you don't see a project in your area, you can search by type (say literacy or healthy living) or give to one in a high poverty area.

http://www.donorschoose.org/

If you can't choose one, enlist your kids to help - the youngest of the young can randomly click and the preschoolers and above may just help you decide based on how you explain to them what these needs are and mean.

While there, check out the information from Stephen Colbert and Oprah as well :)