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Posted by Rachel Balducci in Family on Tuesday, August 31, 2010 2:00 PM
I was tidying Isabel’s nursery today and realized, as I added books to her second book basket, that I have a weakness for books. I am practical about things and stuff and I can get rid of just about any other item around this house. But when it comes time to purge, rarely can I justify ditching a book.
(I sort of feel this way about shoes, too, but somehow I can rally and get rid of them here and there.)
What about you. How would you finish the following statement: You can never have too many ____________?
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Hand me downs that are larger than those my kids currently wear and books. We have an entire library of books and are always buying more, and I have basic staples for my kids’ wardrobes as far out as 6 sizes larger than they currently wear. I always know that if they have a sudden growth spurt when my budget is tight then they have something to wear until I can pick up a few more pieces.
Right there with you - has to be books. Now a question for you - when the kids outgrow a book, I mean REALLY OUTGROW a book, what do you do with it?
With daughters turning 11 and 8 this week, I actually have a box of board books with titles like: Bear in the Big Blue House, Jamberry, Runaway Bunny, Angel Babies, Chicka-Chicka Boom Boom, and Rolie Polie Olie put away in one of my hallway closets. I just can’t part with them - too many memories of reading these books over and over and over to my then-very young daughters.
Any time my kids outgrow anything I either sell it on a garage sale or donate it to a women’s shelter/church thrift store if it’s in good shape. If not I put it in the scrap bin in our crafting area to be broken down for craft projects, etc. We never just throw thigns away because we know that there are always ways to use it to ensure we get the full use of the materials.
My mom boxed most of ours and kept them in the basement. I’m so glad she did! Now that there are grandkids, it’s nice to know that Grandma already has lots of good books, and it’s so fun to reminisce and to feel that we are giving something of our own childhoods to our kids. This only works if you have ample storage, though.
If my husband were to answer for me, he’d say that I can never have too many black shoes. Being male, I think he finds it hard to understand that there are different styles of black sandals, and sometimes you just need something more casual than the ones you’ve already got (or more dressy, or more comfortable, or with lower heels, or whatever). Really, though, only a guy would find my black shoe collection extravagant. Ladies would totally get it. 
It’s only black shoes, by the way. I don’t seem to acquire brown ones at the same rate.
books and blank notebooks, I just love them!!
Books. And blank notebooks. For the childrens books, I’ve kept the favorites and gifts, donated the rest. I keep thinking I’m going to put them away, but then nieces and nephews come over…or neighbors….and we get them out again. I think they’re destined to stay on the shelf until the grandchildren arrive! I used to keep all the books I loved, figuring my daughter would love to read them. However, though an avid reader, she has vastly different tastes in books, and doesn’t care to read them. I’m slowly parting with some. It’s an exercise in detachment… 
Books! I grew up in a family where my father regularly told me “If you don’t know the answer, you just haven’t found the right book yet.” And when we would be out shopping if I asked for a toy I might have been allowed to buy it, but if I asked for a book my parents always obliged. What a great way to encourage reading! My parents still have my childhood books - it’s just that now my sons read them!
I too would have said books. But I’m pregnant and in the mood for spring cleaning everything. Plus, I’m weeding my book collection because there are many books that are just not appropriate anymore. Things I’ll never read (Dr. Phil the Ultimate Weight Solution) and books I’ll never read again (P.C. Cast - Divine by Mistake). Then there are the books I don’t want my children to read (A Series of Unfortunate Events). Or books I can easily find at the library (Island of the Blue Dolphins). I’ve been packing and packing book after book into paper bags and taking them to my local used bookstore to get credit. Then if I need to buy a book later on when my children begin to homeschool, I’ll have a ready supply of credit to purchase books that would cost me quite a bit otherwise.
The only problem I’m having now is going through my craft books. I can’t seem to get rid of any of them. Novels - Yes. Instructional books on cool things - No. And the sad thing is that I most likely won’t be able to just run over to the library to find these books. I’d most likely have to do an inner library loan that would take forever (remember that the Library of Congress has every book ever published in the US and a few more besides - very cool).
I also was of the state that, “she who died with the most fabric wins” but I ended up giving away a large portion of what I had purchased to friends and a vintage fabric store.
I think pregnancy is God’s way of letting us detach from the “things” that hold us back. If feels so refreshing to see space and room and less clutter. I wish that I didn’t have to buy anything to use it. It would be so nice to just go over to a craft store and use the fabric they had and work on a project there and not pay a thing. It sure would save me a lot of money.
I’m very very jealous of your nesting instinct! With my first, the urge to organize didn’t hit til ds was 10 months old, and then it was limited to obsessive list making. I’m 33 weeks with ds2 now, and the list-making has started, but I seem to be paralyzed when it comes to actually going through things and organizing them. Very frustrating! Anyway, congratulations on your new little one, and happy nesting!
Definitely books! And my children think it’s very odd that I have a weakness for nice water bottles. I love Tervis Tumblers and good BPA-free plastic water bottles like our set of Contigo bottles. I carry ice water with me everywhere I go, so I use them daily.
Definitely books, and I have been working on putting away the best-loved baby/toddler/preschool books for the day when my kids grow up and have their own kids. Ones that no one was too interested in get given away/donated to the library book sale.
For all you bookophiles check out: http://www.librarything.com/
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