Little L's birthday was approaching. This meant a few things:

1) Gifts would be coming in

2) Things had to go

I told Little L that we needed to donate some items because she was about to get some new toys.

Of course, I'd like her to donate things because she wants others to have them, or because she realizes she's not using something. But for now I'm helping my budding downsizer to realize the practicalities of life: she can't keep everything. There's just not room.

We started by putting all of Little L's toys in the living room. We both laughed as we grabbed toys from her bedroom and the basement and brought them in. Minus a few categories: bath boys, outdoor toys, and her stuffed aminal collection which was currently spending time at Gamma's house (had the stuffed aminals sought refuge because The Downsizing was imminent?).

I sat on a small square of uncovered rug between a baby cradle and a bag full of bouncy balls, my knees pulled to my chest. I suddenly remembered how stuff overwhelms me.

We started the first category: Babies.

It quickly became clear that Little L was not going to be parting with any of her baby dolls. Or their accessories. I started to doubt the efficacy of this campaign.

But then in the Babies category we came across some Pull-Ups (don't worry - unused). There were five clean Pull-Ups in three different bins that we'd been using for doll diapers. Stacked together they filled an entire plastic bin.

"We can get rid of some, Mama," Little L said. "Just take a picture and throw them away."

Similar to my strategy of scanning photos and papers before discarding them. I liked it.

By the end of the baby downsizing, Little L had seen just how much room PullUps took, and she had agreed to get rid of all of them. "They don't actually fit the babies, Mama." It's true. They're more like sleeping bags for them.

"Look, we now have an entire empty plastic bin," I showed her. "Now we have space for something new."

Little L also agreed to get rid of all of the "baby clothes" that were actually her old clothes. A bright red frilly jumper she'd worn on her second birthday. I smiled at it, I held it to my cheek. Took its picture. And then, because I was telling Little L she was supposed to, I let that stuff* go.

After quiet time, as soon as Axel was done with work, we called him in to help. He is much more productive at downsizing than I am. He doesn't get overwhelmed - in fact, he can work in a room full of disorganized papers and boxes and it doesn't bother him one bit. I guess you could call that some kind of... skill?

Under Axel's tutelage, we picked items to keep and to donate to the toy library. We recently joined the Minneapolis Toy Library, which now has a Northeast location. Going to the toy library seems to be a good antidote to laying on the floor crying in a store because it's too hard to choose just one thing (Little L, I mean). In fact, we've put a hold on the allowance that we started as a way to teach Little L about money, because now she's asking me "How long until we go back to the toy library, Mama?" Better for the earth, our house, avoiding the greed bug, and our wallets too.

Little L ended up really getting into the downsizing. "Let's do more downsizing, Mama!" she kept saying. "I like it!" I think this is because she got to make big decisions with Axel and I doing the hauling, lugging, and photo-taking. Or maybe it's because she was excited to make room for the new. Either way, she's been bugging me to downsize the outdoor toys and the art center, which we haven't gotten around to yet.

Besides the great toy downsizing, there are the clothes, which I go through each season, preparing bags to pass on to my friend Ellen's daughter. I do those on my own; Little L doesn't seem to mind. I thank Mandy and Sarah for the bags of clothes from their girls. You all have great style and don't appear to get a lot of stains on your clothes either, which is highly impressive.

Little L hasn't looked back at the toys that she willingly donated. She honestly hasn't even looked at the toy library toys after the first week, because, as I pointed out to her and she now explains to me, "I just get kind of bored of them after a week, Mama."

But not the babies. And now the collection is growing to include kiddo dolls. And I don't see that changing any time soon.

*Imagine I used a different "s" word. It's funnier that way.