But Wendy and Pinkie Pie go beyond that. They don't just want to keep their books in good shape and have them around... they want books stacked on all surfaces, piled high in teetering stacks, threatening the safety of bystanders.
For them, hoarding books is a matter of necessity.
But eventually I get to the point where I can't even add a new book to Pinkie Pie's room because the bookcase simply will not accept more. I suppose the threat of not getting new books because there is no place to put them is a real one for the two of them, so they finally let me go through Pinkie Pie's books and sort out the stuff that has to go.
This is what we decided to part with:
Note that all of these books came off of a single bookcase, and that bookcase is still currently full. If you wanted to add any new books to it they would have to be stacked on top of other piles in unruly piles. How it is that this many books managed to come off a single bookcase that is still full is kind of beyond me, as it seems like that shouldn't be possible. Yet there is the evidence in front of my eyes.
Wendy and Pinkie Pie both struggle getting rid of things. I, on the other hand, would love to get rid of about half of our things but they won't let me.
Long term I suspect we are in a pretty good place in terms of this compromise. If we did things my way I would certainly end up needing things that I had thrown out. If we did things the way Wendy and Pinkie Pie want we would be tripping over all of our junk and never be able to find anything in the heap. Our compromise leaves us mostly fine, with nobody entirely satisfied. That seems to be how compromises go.
If you have a kid age 3-10 and want some books, sing out, I have them just sitting here waiting to be read.
I would love books!
ReplyDeleteBung
I relate to this so much. In high school my parents finally called enough when I had three bookcases lining the walls of my bedroom, the desk was covered in stacks of books along with the space underneath the desk, and I was upset because the bookcase in my closet broke under the weight. I then went on a massive purge and got rid of the majority of books (limited myself to two bookcases). It was about 4 years later when I was back home visiting, rereading an old book and found 5 dollars tucked away in it, that I remembered I used to stash my allowance money into the books to find later as a treat. I have absolutely no idea how much money I donated to the library. Whoops! But honestly my bookcases were way WAY over due for a slim down. And slimming down can be hard but it is a good thing. I found books that had been hidden away for so long that I had forgotten about them. It was like finding a whole new library.
ReplyDeleteI too live in a laberynthine gallery of books rather than a room. I have also to get rid of books but i seem to fail to do so. I have had people seeing picture of my room claim that i will be rich if i sell all the things in my room.
ReplyDelete