I started watching a new series on Netflix, called 'Tidying Up with Marie Kondo'. She's the Japanese woman who is the queen of decluttering and tidying. My husband sat down and watched an episode with me and that resulted in us going out to buy a new shelving unit for the garage and a day of sorting and clearing by him. Amazing how much seeing someone else's clean and tidy household can prick your conscience!
So I've decided that this is the year I address the old Christmas decorations that don't get to see the light of day but stay in a box in the loft. The ones that have sentimental value. I asked my husband to go up to the loft and bring down anything left up there that is Christmassy and while he was playing squash with our son I've been going through it. There have been tears. You see, my mum loved Christmas and her Christmas tree was her pride and joy. She would have different colour combinations each year and every year we would go up to London and she would buy at least one new decoration for that year. And those decorations have been in my loft since she died 20 years ago. There are boxes within boxes and as soon as I opened it up and saw my Mum's handwriting 'Fragile, handle with care' I felt a wave of emotion as I remembered how lovingly she would wrap each one in tissue paper to stop them tarnishing before they came out again the next year. Sadly, despite having been in a box, some of them had broken, and some had tarnished quite badly. So it was easy to make decisions about which to keep.
This one's a keeper
Some were decorations that the kids had made when they were little
So they were keepers too
My mum was not a hoarder, if she knew I had held onto so many broken things or things that were well past their best she would give me a stern look and say 'Deborah,' (she was the only person to call me by my full name!) 'what are you holding onto those for?' So I've decluttered and these rediscovered decorations will be added to my existing ones when the tree comes down tomorrow and next year they will be enjoyed rather than hidden away in the loft.
Are your decorations down yet? Aren't our houses going to seem bare once they are all packed away?
6 comments:
My tree came down on January 1st. I love having it, but our family room seems so much BIGGER once it is put away!
How very timely that you watched Marie Condo's show & it was time to put Christmas away. My friend was just telling me yesterday about the show & how it has motivated her to tidy. Our tree & ALL the Christmas decorations are still up. Mr Man requested that they ALL stay in place until after Saturday's Little Christmas gathering, but right after church on Sunday ALL will be put away. That is so nice that you have some of your Mum's beloved Christmas decorations - a heart's treasure.
The tidying show, the time to take down Christmas, the treasure discover - all very coincidental - maybe ...
I am sure your Mum would have been touched by your careful curating of her things - and lovely that they can find a place to shine again. My DD has told me about the Marie Kondo show, but we don't have Netflix, alas. This year, for the first time ever, I have not been desperate to take down our tree, and am holding onto it till the weekend.
There's something about January that motivates me to clean out. I try to do my closet every year and try to be tough. If I haven't worn it in a year, it goes! As for Christmas, I did what you are doing now when I got my decorations out. I took everything out and went through it all. I did put some things back that I don't intend to use again. And, my girls don't want it either. Why am I keeping it? These things have value. Yet, too fragile for me to want to deal with Ebay. Frankly, I don't know what to do with it.
What a thoughtful post. I am sure you made your mama smile, as your lovingly sorted her ornaments and gave each a little attention. Glad you found some to keep and to continue using in her memory. What treasures.
I am holding onto many 'keepsakes' that are past their prime. And, I have to ask myself, if I don't want to display them, will my children want to in 20 years any more than I do now? My mom has had us divvying up things recently. So hard because I don't know what to do with many of the things that are old and 'precious' but not so precious any more.
Thinking this is the year to employ the Kondo method without mercy at my house. Tough times.
Your mum was obviously a very wise woman! Did you pass on any to your grown up kids, so that they could start their own collection of memories? There's a small shoebox in amidst our decorations and it's filling up with baubles and the like bought since The Boy Child arrived on planet earth ... the plan is one day, perhaps, to gift the box to him if/when he leaves home. I really liked the look of the Santa bauble.
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