Usually I wait until February recess or April break to do my closet purging, but yesterday I started in the cupboard in the kitchen that has all those bit of herbs and spices and bags of dried and dessicated star anise and chilies that will never be used and have lost any of their flavor urgency, and I started to throw stuff away.

And then I moved upstairs. To my clothes closet.

And got rid of stuff.

Why do we have so much stuff? I went through every bin, box, drawer and hook. I tossed things I haven’t worn in years. I got rid of stuff that I think is unflattering. I admitted to myself that I will never fit into some of those clothes again.

Torn and stained? Trash. Unworn and unwearable? Salvation Army.

And then I moved to my 16-year-old’s room. I had been granted permission to help her manage the clothes, so I was not there uninvited.  She is in a show right now at school, and she is either sleeping, rehearsing, or doing her homework. Eating takes place while doing homework or at rehearsal lately. The room had spiraled out of control.  I just threw everything in a pile on the closet floor and methodically began to put things away. Too small, here. Dirty, there. Keep – fold/hang and store.

One basket of clothes for the sisters. One bag of clothes for consignment. Two bags of clothes for the Salvation Army.

I need to do this with my curriculum. What things do I keep covering that I like but will just never fit anymore? What things need repair? What order do I put them in the year?

Shaking out the dust.

Now is the time to do this. Not in the spring. I’m too tired in the spring to have the meta-cognitive energy to assess the usefulness of each element of the curriculum. I can more clearly see now what I want to keep and what I want to throw away, give away, let go of. I have enough of a sense of these students that I know where to start.

It feels good to give myself permission to let go of some things that are extra, unused and to fix the things that I want to keep.

Lost In A Pile Of Clothes by bixentro