Garage Sale

We are having a garage sale. I am not a big fan. At 33, this will be my first garage sale. It just always seems like more work than it’s worth. But Flylady, who hates garage sales, had a bit about helping your kids have a garbage sale, oops, garage sale, to teach them about money, and also to declutter. Then my almost 8 year old brought it up, I don’t know where he came up with the idea, but he has been obsessed about money lately. (Side note, we don’t currently give the guys an allowance, I’ve been thinking about changing that but have no idea how much to give, or where that money will come from.) Anyhoo, Jon came to me in the middle of June with his idea to have a garage sale. I was in the midst of an intense class so I told him we would in July. And look here, it seems to be July already. How did that happen?

So, we have been going through toys. It’s been harder than I’d anticipated. There are toys Jon is ready to sale, which I am not. Five-year-old Joey is more likely to want to keep most things. We’ve gotten a good-sized pile, but we are still debating a few things, namely the Little People collection. We have the LP barn from seven years ago. It was a gift from a couple of my sisters on Jon’s first birthday. He loved when I would turn the knob that would throw the farmer out of his bed. Jon would giggle every time. We also have the pirate ship, Noah’s Ark, the bus, and plenty of Little People and animals. Packed away in the Christmas décor box, is the Nativity Set. We all know that’s not going anywhere! The guys have not played with the LP toys regularly in a couple years, but I often get them out when we have younger guests. And I just love them.

But I know it’s not only the toys I’m having trouble giving up. It’s also my boys’ childhoods that are slipping away. In five weeks, Joey will go to kindergarten and I will no longer have a preschooler, let alone a toddler or a baby. I loved being the mom of little ones. I know there were struggles and I certainly remember them, but it was worth it, it really was. Looking at the Little People reminds me of those days. There have been a lot of toys I’ve let the guys put in the garage sale pile that remind me of those years. I look at the stuffed Diego and I don’t see fabric and stuffing, I see Jon playing with his favorite character. The Cars toys bring back birthday parties and seeing the movie. My sisters wanted to see it too, so we had two little kids and six adults in the theater. The penguin toys remind me of Joey dancing his Happy Feet dance. I let those toys go. I have the memories and the pictures; I don’t need the toys clogging up my house. But I’m holding on to the Little People.

There’s another reason I’m holding on to the Little People toys. Unlike the Tonka truck or the Hyper ship that I tripped over for years, the Little People toys are relatively gender neutral. What if we do have a little girl? What if I give away, or sale, all my toys and I finally get pregnant? We’ve only been trying for three years. It’s not completely out of the question yet. Jim tossed the crib a couple years ago, it was in tough shape, and my sisters have used all my baby clothes for their little boys. And if we do have another baby, he or she will have their own Christmases and birthdays to get all sorts of new toys for me to trip on. But you can’t buy that Little People Barn anymore. They’ve revised it several times, but the one we have is the coolest, by far. And the pirate ship isn’t even available. I’m keeping my Little People!