Welcome to another Minimalist Monday post. In a few short hours, the last Monday of Spring break will be over and everyone will be back to their respective schools/jobs. It was a fabulous break in so many ways. No we didn’t go to Hawaii, or to Mexico, like many of our children’s friend’s families. One family even went to Cuba and Will said another is off to England for a month. WOW! It was wonderful none the less, although we rarely left our subdivision. Sometimes, keeping things quiet, relaxed and simple are the best ways to enjoy a break.
At least in my opinion.
I continued to get more pruning done since I last wrote. David and Clark also accomplished a lot. They took most of the second wooden retaining wall down and hauled it to the land fill. All 800 pounds of it~! Once Harrison’s attic space is complete, (David is working every spare moment on it) we can get going on the second river bed rock wall above the pool. And then we can plant it with herbs, and edible flowers, which is perfect for our pollinators. Check out the plants that pollinators love.
The children practiced their music, their math and their reading everyday in the morning and then spent the rest of the day outside riding bikes, playing in our play ground, or jumping on the trampoline. We even invited a few friends over to play, which was nice for the children to reconnect with their friends, since two weeks is a LONG time when you are six and eight. Grace even had a friend over.
Our Easter Weekend was more minimal than is past years and started out with a good April Fool’s joke–or at least I thought it was one. On Easter Sunday the children burst into our bedroom really early and exclaimed, “it’s snowing!” I laughed sleepily into my pillow, “oh that’s a good one guys.” “No, really mom, it’s snowing!” they all chimed in unison, as they opened our bedroom curtains to show a white out outside our bedroom window.
Saturday had been glorious. Okay, maybe a bit brisk, but the sun was shining and the sky was mostly blue. What had happened? The sky was now heavy with white clouds, and big, fluffy flakes were gently falling, covering the ground in a thick quilt of more white. No green was showing. “Ahhhh!” I said, collasping into my pillow and pulling the comforter over my head.
David, laughed and got out of bed to take the kids to the kitchen for Sunday breakfast. Normally, it’s their tradition to make pancakes and waffles with fruit on Saturday and Sunday, but since it was Easter, there were cinnamon buns and everyone was looking forward to that treat. “Do you want anything mom,” they asked as they left my bedroom. “Spring,” I said, and promptly went back to sleep. I dreamed a weird dream about our neighbours ripping out all their lawn and laying down carpet, upon which they exclaimed , “It’s so easy to keep clean. You just vacuum it!”
I woke up a while later rather groggy, residue from my dream still lingering, and stumbled into the bathroom. I was shocked to see blue sky. The grass was even green. Had I dreamed it had been snowing a few hours earlier? “Where did the snow go?” I yelled towards the kitchen, in which David replied, “all melted!” That was the strangest Easter morning I have ever experienced in all our years in our little town. Now when we lived in Calgary, Alberta, many years ago, that wouldn’t have been an uncommon occurrence, but not in the Okanagan. (Do you doubt global warming when you wake up to a blizzard on Easter Sunday in the Okanagan?)
Needless to say, I flew into action as I didn’t want to waste a moment of this promising day. I had much to do. Get the turkey in the oven, ice the bunny, carrot cake, I had made the night before. Peel all the vegetables and generally get ready for our Sunday dinner. Clark and David were hauling the broken down retaining wall out of our yard and into David’s company truck, which he had for the weekend so it was my job to get the scavenger clues distributed for our Easter egg hunt.
No time to waste!
Grace agreed to take the little ones for a walk while I set out the clues around our yard and the day was well on it’s way. As I was moving through the yard, dropping clues among plants and faeries, I was thinking about how great this spring break was for our family. I was also pondering what I wanted to write about for this minimalist Monday and suddenly it came to me. Over spring break we did a few things in the name of minimalism.
The first step to moving towards minimalism is: “let go of what doesn’t serve you any longer.” But it’s a constant process. Last summer, at a golf tournament, David won a golf bag and putter. They were both good quality but nothing David needed, nor did our sons, who also play a bit of golf. So one night, David did a bit of sleuthing to see what these items would sell for and then he listed them on Kijiji. Within a day he had two people interested and by day two he had sold the items.
The man that bought them was thrilled with the price and the value and kept saying, “this is just what I have been looking for.” David felt really great about selling the items and knew that they would be put to good use. The money also came in handy, as we were able to help out our two University sons with a bit of money to tide them over until the semester ends.
Win/Win!
Then a few days later the twins invited a friend over for a play date. As it turns out their friend has a little brother. Bonus! I pulled out Will’s old bike with training wheels and the big wheel tricycle that we have been tripping over and asked the mom if she thought her little guy could use them. She smiled brightly and said she would gladly take them, as they can always use more outdoor toys. I smiled too, as we tucked them into the back of her van.
Walking back to our house with a tiny bit emptier garage, I suddenly felt lighter. I was so inspired by letting go of these items, that I cleaned the whole garage. Once it was done, we could actually find what we were looking for. The rest of spring break was even better, as the little ones could wheel their bikes, scooter and plasma cars, in and out of the garage without bumping into things that they no longer played with.
Win/Win!
And so while we are well along the path towards minimalism, it reminded me that you have to be ever vigilant and get rid of stuff as soon as you recognize it is no longer serving you. Although we did a huge declutter, a few years ago, I am always combing through drawers and closets to make sure we never get into that space again. It reminded me that it’s so easy to let the bigger stuff stay because it’s not like you can just donate it in a bag to Good Will. And speaking of Good Will, I just saw a CBC, “Marketplace,” show, discussing what happens to all our used clothing. Check it out!
If you think that someone is happily using your donated clothing, think again. I had no idea, but most of the clothes that gets donated, ends up in land fills, either in our country, or abroad. It was shocking. And so, as we make a list of what our children need in the way of new clothing, ’cause they are growing out of everything, I’m going to be a mindful consumer this spring. I will try to purchase fewer items of good quality so we can wash them again and again and they continue to look great. Also, by buying good quality, when you do let them go, the chances of them being used until they are truly worn out is better. People appreciate good quality cotton clothing.
Well, that concludes my thoughts for this Monday. If I don’t post it soon it will be Tuesday…PROBABLY will be, as I’m on the west coast and it’s already April 3rd where my blogging site is located. Anyway, it’s all good! I hope you enjoyed your break and if you too are moving in the direction of becoming a minimalist, the next time you trip over something in your house, garage, or yard, set it aside and find a home for it. A place that will appreciate it and the side benefit is that you will feel lighter as you move along this journey we call life.
One final thing I want to leave you with is a prayer. Part of taking a minimalist approach this Easter was to remind our children that it’s not about the Easter bunny and getting stuff. While we all enjoy a bit of chocolate, I wanted to teach them why Christians celebrate this holiday. I pulled out a few of my treasured childhood Christian related books, and we read bible stories. Will, Kate and Tori sat quietly, attentively, listening to the stories of how Easter came to be. Finally we found a lovely sweet prayer at the end of one of the books that resonated with all of us. I hope you enjoy it as much as our little ones did and I hope you know too, how much you are loved.
God Whispers to us in our hearts:
“Do not fear, I am here
And I love you, my dear,
Close your eyes and sleep tight
For tomorrow will be bright~
All is well, dear child.
Good night.”
Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.
Blessings from Hope