Kid's play

2/21/10 Box of dollhouse dolls and furniture & bag of Ginny Dolls and accessories, given away on craigslist; Children's VHS tapes, donated to Casco Public Library

Triple downsize today, as the items culled by Joanna and Amanda continue to fly out of here.

We had yet another dilemma as we discussed how to downsize some of their childhood dolls. We began with the challenge of parting with them in the first place. I supposed there's some parallel with my own reluctance to get rid of my childhood Star Wars action figures, but they came to terms with saying, "Good-bye" much more quickly than I did (or will, since most of my treasures remain boxed up in the basement).

Then, since the dolls were priceless childhood treasures, we had visions of making millions on eBay. You know, Dear Readers, how that usually turns out. (Check here, here, or here.) A quick eBay search told us that we'd be lucky to fetch more than a few dollars for the Ginny Dolls and the box full of dollhouse furniture, while tremendously cool, would be even tougher to sell.

I made the argument that we should just give the dolls and dollhouse furniture away on craigslist. I saw two potential outcomes: 1) A true collector would snatch them up, recognizing their true value and turn around and make millions on them, or 2) Some parent/grandparent would get them as a toy for a deserving little girl. Either way, I figured, we're increasing the amount of joy in the world, which is about all the reward one should ask from a good downsize.

Scenario #2 happened, and a delightful woman named Norma came by this morning to get the dolls and dollhouse furniture for her granddaughters to use when they visit. (She saw my separate postings on craigslist and requested both.) She even mentioned that now she'll be motivated to get them a dollhouse. See? The world is a more joyful place and we are all the richer for it.

I also had to go to the Casco Library today for our monthly trustee meeting. I used the trip to drop off some of Joanna and Amanda's childhood Disney movies.

Serving as a trustee has been one of the joys of living in Casco. However, at this meeting I announced the fact that Joanna, Chase, and I will be moving to Denver this summer -- a fact widely discussed in my life right now, but not mentioned before on the blog. Did I catch any of you off guard?

It's hard to break from such great institutions as our local library, and I know my occasional donations do not make full amends. Still, just as downsize choices are often difficult, so are the larger life decisions we occasionally must make. I say let's embrace those difficult choices, rather than shrink from them.

With our move looming in the future, the need to speed up the downsizing is becoming more obvious. Three downsizes in one day? That may have to become par for the course...

Editor's Note, 3/1/10: I received this fantastic email from Norma: Thank you again for the Ginny Dolls. I washed the clothes, ironed them and did a little mending. The girls haven't seen them yet, but I'm excited and know they'll love them. And today I bought a doll house, so I'm setting up your furniture, which is so nice. I'm probably more excited than the girls will be, but they'll be staying over next week and I can't wait.