“Boxing Day is traditionally the day following Christmas Day, when servants and tradesmen would receive gifts from their superiors or employers, known as a "Christmas box"…..This custom is linked to an older English tradition: Since they would have to wait on their masters on Christmas Day, the servants of the wealthy were allowed the next day to visit their families. The employers would give each servant a box to take home containing gifts and bonuses, and sometimes leftover food.”
I like to give myself a Boxing Day every once in a while, but inside out. This is a day when I get an empty box and go around the house picking things up, looking them over, making decisions. I have little stashes of “not-sure-if-it’s-worth-storing” and these are a great place to fill up my box. Then I stick the box in the front seat of my car and the next time I run errands, drive it to a charity, usually the Humane Society’s Thrift Shop.
Why is this a gift to myself?
Clutter. Clutter-Be-GONE! I actually have a book by cleaning expert Don Aslett with this title. It’s half about organizing and de-cluttering, and half about how to clean. How to clean? Yep. I’ve learned lots from this book. One of the best tips in there is “don’t scrub.” Know why not? What’s your guess?
The less clutter, the clearer the space, the fewer things your mind has to keep track of, the more room there is in there for the really important stuff. Besides, I hate tripping.
Boxing Day is usually not easy, especially in my fabric cupboard, my kids’ rooms, and my husband’s closet. Too many times we say, “Hey, with just a little [polishing, glue, paint, part] that’ll be good as new!” I have to remind myself that time counts. My time, my stress, my worry…they’re worth some bucks, too. Will it cost more to fix it or toss it and replace it later? Amazingly, it almost always costs more to keep it, if you count time, energy, and brain storage along with money.
So, “Hey” right back attcha. Give yourself a gift and toss
it in the Box.
5 comments:
Meggan, I love this concept! We go through our closets a couple times a year, and it always feels like a huge task. Doing it on a smaller scale and more frequently would definitely be easier to face. :-)
Maybe I have a use for the boxes that accumulated in my office after all...
Yep, both of those are definitely benefits! I also like the sense of "giving back regularly" that I get. Once a month works pretty well for me.
Glad you liked it :)
Great idea, Meggan! Um, now I just need to implement it...
Meggan - We did this too after Christmas, but filled many bags and boxes. I didn't realize we were celebrating Boxing Day backwards! ; )
DH and I went through closets and the kids' room. We filled the back of the car with stuff for the Christ Walk thrift store in downtown Lebanon.
Of course what did we do? Drug home an antique mirror. Hey, it was only five bucks and it's beautiful! And my husband HAD to have a big filing cabinet. It was only $10 and heavy duty. It was so heavy duty in fact that he could barely thigh walk it into the house. And then we realized how behemoth the thing really was. So what did the DH do? What any decent guy would do - he offered the cabinet to his ex wife. And she took it. Yay!
So the moral of this story is twofold: when dropping off your box of discards at the thrift store, don't venture inside to look around. And two - try to keep a civil relationship with your exes. You never know when such a relationship might work in your favor. Ha!
Danita, weeeelll, part of the reason I like the Boxing Day clean out is so I can have room for new treasures! Hubby keeps finding gorgeous things on Craigslist, and someday I'm going to be able to say, "Yes! I have room for that!"
The exes thing I've already blown. I don't have exes, but Hubby has one that just isn't ever going to be nice to me. Comparisons to over-weight bovines have been lobbied at me regularly over the years...don't think she'd be willing to take on any of our discards. BUT, I applaud you for keeping things positive...that's not always easy! *clap, clap, clap* Nice job!
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