Thoughtful Tuesday: To Keep or Not To Keep?

Today is Sophia's last day in school for this semester. As Primemont Science School's Preschool Department's sem-ender activity, they had a pajama party. And yes, I am at home --- I was not there to witness her first show & tell. I was not there to take photos and videos of my little tattle-tale. But I asked the new helper (au revoir laundry & dishwashing!) to bring the camera and take photos of my little sleepy head. She brought her dinosaur plushie & Hello Kitty numbers book for their show & tell. When I asked her last night on what to bring for today's activity, she instantly grabbed that book and was in panic mode in looking for Dino, the dinosaur; which, was just inside her "box of surprise" when she went to her "imaginary world."

Sophia & her classmates in their blankies

She has more than 10 plushies and five extra pillows in bed, but she chose Dino. She got Dino from my friend's house when we attended my friend's birthday party. This friend is living with her sister & nephew, thus the existence of toys. Sophia was around 2 1/2 years old that time & was really a ball of energy. She was unstoppable. So to speak, my friend, who's soon to be a mommy, gave her Dino to basically tame my little jungle kid. It was effective. She brought the green dinosaur at home, slept with him & well, had it absorbed dust in her toy box a few days after she acquired it.

Dino atop her kitchen toys

She totally forgets her old toys when she has new ones. Bad. I feel bad. But surprisingly, when she turned 3, she had this kick of nostalgia that she hunted for her old toys and played with it in longer time. She's now four & she can now clearly show favoritism. She extravagantly makes us all know in the house that this toy is her favorite. Like for example, a new pseudo-Barbie doll was given to her and for some unknown reason, perhaps the color of the hair or clothes, she won't play with it. She would still choose to play with her 3-year-old blocks. Or doodle in her Hello Kitty notebook using her broken crayons. 

The box of her ignored toys

I am guilty of giving her too many toys. She has a big box of knick-knacks --- toys she got from parties she attended, McDonald's Happy Meals & Jolly Kiddie Meals. She actually has toys that do not help her with brain development. They are basically toys. As much as I would like to teach her to be a giver & have those extra toys donated to less fortunate kids, I just can't YET. I think she is too young to understand the concept of charity. And sharing, per se. She is the only kid in the house and she is used to having all the toys around her for herself. I would really love to donate these extra dolls, puzzles & other thingamajigs this coming Christmas to kids in the orphanage, or in that big box in Jollibee for MaAGA ang Pasko; but I still have to find a way to make her understand that we are just giving her toys new owners and not really taking it away from her. 

I want her to realize that she must keep the material things that she really needs. I am myself a sentimental freak. I own books that I do not read anymore, but I still keep it because I intend to pass it to my daughter. I have a notebook of all the cheesy poems I used to write when I was a hopeless romantic teenager, which I also would like to share to my daughter when that puppy love moment arrives. I have a big shoe box of photos, that I will never open again, to avoid bringing up my past. Haha! Oh yes, unplucked eyebrows & oily face. Eek. But I never keep other things that I know I won't be using for the next 5 years. One thing I have learned as an NPA (No Permanent Address), if you haven't used it for a year, that means you are not going to use it for the next few years of your life. Throw or give it away. That object I presumed as trash might be another woman's treasure. If it's a liability, if it just collects dust, if it occupies a big space in your closet, if you totally forget about having it inside your house; then you definitely don't need it anymore. Right? 

{Much like some people in our lives; there are those worth to keep and of course, there are those worth to just say goodbye to. I believe that you really do not need a lot of friends, you just need to have a few REAL ones.  Ones you could really keep for the rest of your life. Ones you know you can share your happiness with without them spoiling it & your sadness without them blaming you. That IS the big logic behind the toy-giving lesson I would like my daughter to realize. So help me God.}