Wednesday has become our day to clean. It also happens to be the day I make trips to the consignment store with things I deem more than garage sale worthy – like today’s drop-off. It included a framed professional photograph of the moon over the Eau Claire River. The frame was handmade by my husband and it hung in the dining room of our previous house. It’s been stored, carefully, in this house for 15 years – never hung, never displayed, just stored. Today, I said goodbye to it when I dropped it off at the consignment shop. I’m sure it will be bought and appreciated by someone.
After we made the rounds cleaning – my husband vacuumed and cleaned the floors and I dusted and wiped baseboards – we dove into some persistent toy stashes. There are not many left. Our boys are now young men, 20, 22, and 27 years of age. They’ve been all out of the house and living on their own for long enough to know they are not coming back. Our youngest has been living in the Twin Cities for over a year. We are official empty-nesters. And, thus, the impetus to move from our big rambling ranch to something more manageable and appropriately sized for two adults.
The toy stashes mostly consist of two cupboards of games, two totes of stuffed animals, and a toy chest full of nerf guns. We’re having some little guests for dinner tonight and hope to pawn off a few well-kept favorites, including a stuffed Curious George and a talking shark named Bruce from Finding Nemo. There are also some Magna-tiles I bought when I volunteered at our children’s museum, twenty years ago. And, there are four Knex figures, already assembled and ready for play.
I even found the dinosaur matching game that we played over and over and over.
We’ve already gifted legos (many totes) and some other things the boys enjoyed while they were young. As I said, this is getting down to the last of it. I saw a few pieces I want to keep as well. And, there are a few things I’ll try to get rid of on eBay. So far, I have a two out of four or 50% success rate selling there. None of the sold pieces were the boys.
It’s been fun to reminisce when going through old totes. I wonder what the next treasure will be that I find!
The Apples in My Orchard 
What a delightful and charming slice. Like you, I enjoy 1) getting rid of stuff, and 2) reminiscing while I go through said stuff. My kids are a little younger than yours, so we’re not *completely* empty nesters, but they’re out of the house most of the year – which definitely sparks my getting-rid-of-stuff moods.
My favorite from your piles? Curious George. Just look at the guy!
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