The Birthday Fairy
We have a birthday fairy who comes to our house.
Sorry to say, she has a rather sordid past. The tradition started when I found a great deal on some toy I wanted to get for C… but I didn’t want her to know *I* bought it for her.
(Yeah. That should have been my first clue. If “Mommy” didn’t want to be caught giving it to her, did she really need it?!)
Rainbow Order, naturally.
The Birthday Fairy is much smarter now. She doesn’t bring junk.
Now she brings smart toys.
Prior to this year, it was hard to tell which toys were smart and which weren’t.
Why couldn’t I see the difference?
TOO MUCH STUFF!!!!!!!
An amazing thing has happened as I’ve been shovelling out what I now lovingly refer to as junk.
I can tell what’s worth keeping and/or what we need but don’t have.
Funny, how stuff gets in the way from discerning that sort of thing.
I had an ah-ha moment earlier this afternoon. It’s a little bit related.
But, oh, it’s MUCH more related to the what-to-put-on-an-empty-shelf post. In fact, I shall wait and put the ah-ha story with that other story in that post I still need to write.
This was, after all, about the birthday fairy.
Right.
Sooo… what was I saying?
Toys.
Yes, that's the sunrise through the window.
Right toys. Wrong toys. Shovel out the bad ones, and the good ones take on a whole new life. It’s like magic. Really, it is!
- All of a sudden the children play for hours at a time.
- Things stay much, much cleaner. No more “creative” messes to deal with. (Sorry to disappoint. They were pretty funny in their own right, weren’t they.)
- You go for days without even hearing, “Can I watch a movie?” —
and then when you do, and the answer of course is “No” because they obviously don’t need it, you hear, “Why do we even have movies if we never get to watch them?”
Which is a very good question.
They don’t really want an answer though, because it might mean that all the movies vanish.
Yes, it’s magic.
But the magic only works if there isn’t stuff in the way.
Yes, that's the sunrise through the window.
What lovely, vivid colors C’s scarves are! They are beautiful! I’m glad they are being well enjoyed.
i must admit, you lost me on this post. was it the scarves that the birthday fairy brought?
Eizabeth still LOVES the cinderella dress she inherited from your cinderella. It’s worn usually daily, though now she’s enjoying the leotards with skirts too… oh, and she’s refusing to wear any other dress to church besides her green one (that she also inherited from you.) THANKS AGAIN!!
Pretty silks!
People who are too scared to get rid of the junk never know the joy that replaces it. Sad!
BTW, you might as well just get rid of the DVD’s. You know you’re going to eventually. Most of ours are Church movies and Jane Austen which I’m keeping but there are a couple others that I need to toss. I’ll do it if you will.
…..cringing…..
Okay.
I’ll get rid of “all” the kid movies.
“All” = everything except Incredibles, Finding Nemo, and Emperor’s New Groove.
Oh. And Treasure Planet.
(Just because John and I actually do watch those together, independent of children.)
That’s pretty respectable for a “round one.” Baby steps, baby steps…
Oh, and the British Peter Pan. The one with real actors, script that sticks pretty closely to the book, and the amazing soundtrack. Yeah. That one.
Maybe someday I’ll just buy the soundtrack so I can get rid of the movie. That’s not a bad idea…
Thanks for helping me along this path. It’s a tough one to walk sometimes, and one in which I’m happy to have advice!
I’m not home most of the time, so I think it’s Mrs. Smith’s decision whether the children films are tossed. I’ll need to take action into my own hands, it seems, about tossing the grown-up films (how sad I can’t say “adult films” without the wrong connotation these days!!!). I’ll need to work up the courage to toss “Star Wars,” “Dune,” and others.