Thursday, July 19, 2012

On a Roll

Apparently, I needed a good frustrating day to motivate me to get stuff done!  Because since my minor meltdown about all the projects I had looming, I've been really getting stuff done.

Today, with all the kids' help, I got the whole loft playroom cleaned up, sorted and agreed upon toys put aside for the yard sale Saturday.  The kids were actually more willing than I thought to give up their stuff. 

However, Z did have some tears about giving up 50% of his stuffed animals (he has so many, so that was the goal I set for him).  He's so attached to them, too.  I hugged him and talked about his feelings.  He said, "It's just that each animal has its own story and I feel like their story ends when we give them to someone else."

So I had a light bulb moment and knowing he is one of our kids who actually seems to like writing, I suggested he write some of their stories down.  I told him that I would take pictures of each of his stuffed animals as we set them out at the sale and then we can make an album with pictures and stories (a lot easier to store than puffy animals).  He actually liked the idea.

Within minutes, he'd written a story about one of the bears.  It was cute.  If I can get his permission, I'll post it here on the blog with a picture.  After reading the story, I said, "What if I typed this up and we clipped it to the bear so that the next kid who gets him will know how this bear's story began?  Then he can continue the story instead of having it end."

Z's eyes lit up like I'd just given him a cup of hot chocolate on a cold, snowy day after he'd been sledding.  It was like new hope for his stuffed bear's new life.

Phew.

L and K asked if they could come over today.  I told them we were just cleaning, but they offered to help.  So K took all the little kids to the nearby park (they were bored while I kept sending them away from the loft -- they tend to undo some of the stuff that I do, faster than I can keep up).  L did the monotonous job of sorting Barbie stuff into bins and tossed stuff that was broken or torn.  So nice and helpful -- and she actually enjoyed doing it.

Of course S was a lifesaver monitoring E and all the younger kids till K came.  I had H and Z upstairs in the loft helping me clean and sort.  It worked out great.

After dinner, I had another burst of energy and tore into the closet under the stairs.  In there I found a lot of good sale stuff that we'll never miss.  I was able to clean the closet in the process and I was able to file away some of the things in the kids' "special boxes" that live in there.  Someday, I'll have to post about the special boxes, but not today.

I'm too tired today.  But it was another job complete and I feel really good about accomplishing more off the list.  Somebody out there must be praying for me!  It's working.  I'm working.

5 comments:

  1. Great work! And it makes me happy hearing about such helpful nieces and nephews. :D And that's a perfect idea for Z. (I so almost wrote his name.)

    I often find that when I get the most stressed, it's followed by a much better perspective on everything. I guess sometimes we have to get to a low in order to straighten out our priorities and make progress.

    Sorry I haven't commented on every entry! I just can't. :P That's all there is to it.

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  2. That's okay -- you're setting priorities way better than I do. :)

    Thank you!

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  3. I, too, think you had a great idea for Z. I can almost see his smile as he realized their (the stuffy's) story would go on. Congratulations!

    Love, Mom

    PS L must take after D.

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  4. L would tell you she's nothing like D, but I see it more and more all the time. :)

    As far as the animals go (I love that you called them stuffy's, Mom), a happy story about them! While we never got pictures taken or more than the one story written (and I'm sure we have pictures of several of them from past candids with Z), about our fourth shopper at the sale came and bought the whole lot of stuffed animals for $15. We were asking 50-cents apiece and there couldn't have been many more than 30 out there -- so we took the offer.

    Z was immediately disappointed that all of them were going away at once (I think he hoped secretly that they wouldn't sell and he could take them all back), but we found out that the man who bought them was a (short-term) foster parent who liked to buy stuffed animals to give each child who came to stay with their family so they could be comforted by the "new" toy and have something to take with them as they transitioned to their next placement.

    The idea of this was just the perfect continuation of the story for all these stuffed animals. It brings tears to my eyes to think that our children's sacrifices of giving up some of their favorite toys will go to bring joy to these other children who are so greatly in need of comfort. God works in amazing ways -- even in the lives of our kids' stuffed toys.

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  5. I hope Z was happy to hear about their new destinations. :)

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