Last of the Stuffed Animals

Day 308: Last of the Stuffed Animals

A day when the difference between "What should I keep?" and "What should I get rid of?" is in stark contrast. I don't seem to have the willpower to reduce the stuffed animal contingent to one large basket. There are just too many that I can't bring myself to get rid of...even knowing that stuffed animals have no intrinsic value. I can't even bring myself to reduce them to one (or two, or three, or four) per person.

At the risk of sounding repetitive, there are so very many stuffed animals that I just can't seem to part with, and I don't know why. Looking around my house every day, trying to find that one more item to get rid of, I'm starting to see whole categories that I am still clutching, even if I never use them. Gifts. Heirlooms. Sentimental things. A moving truck's worth. These:

• The many handmade dolls my mother gave us, except for this one pilly gingerbread man, who's tattered puffball buttons are almost separated from his gingerbread body. I still have Mary (the little girl in pink), and a knitted sailor man in blue, and a boy with a red and yellow striped scarf. Also, from my mother are Raggedy Ann and Andy, made from fabric on the sewing machine

• The many handmade dolls my children made, including many intentionally ugly sock dolls Sam made from an ugly sock doll book, and a hand-knitted bear named Greg (yes, another Greg) which Emma made for Sam, and sock doll likenesses of me and Rich that Emma made with my mother (the little blond woman doll is always looking away from the slightly larger bearded man doll with the curly red hair), and a little calico girl doll Emma made in sewing class in kindergarten
• A bear stuffed with cherry pits that you can heat in the microwave and use like a sweet-smelling hot water bottle, a gift from Nadin because she loves hot water bottles so
• A giant tiger that Dad got for Sam at Costco. It's leaking little styrofoam pellets, but Sam loved it so, I can't stand to give it away
• A giant Eeyore, a giant floppy brown dog, and many giant fish pillows that make convenient lounging cushions
• A little stuffed dog - Elizabeth's first gift to Emma - and a little stuffed bear - my first gift to Emma
• Emma's collection of stuffed pigs
• An Ugly Doll knock-off that one of them won at the Burns Park Ice Cream Social
• A lifelike German Shepherd Dog and a giant snake, gifts from Miranda

We also have six small covered pillows. Emma sewed the covers and embroidered a note for each of her elementary school teachers on them. She intended to give them as gifts, but never did.