6 Big Boxes

I use Maggie's diaper boxes as "sharing boxes". This just means they are going to the thrift store, but I like to make the emphasis to Maggie that we are sharing the things we don't need anymore with people who might need them more. The boxes are the perfect size; even when full they're not too heavy, but they're large enough to hold nearly anything.

I had three boxes stacked up in my craft room for ages. I wanted to drop them off but just didn't get the chance. So I put them in the car, figuring sooner or later I'd find myself near the thrift shop and I'd drop them off. Then I did a major cleanout of Maggie's space post-Xmas and ended up with three MORE boxes.

I am contemplating these 6 boxes. I would like to just dump them off and get rid of them and stop thinking about them. But I think I need to consider them a little more, and what they represent.

These 6 boxes represent a large amount of stuff. Enough to cover a twin bed 6 inches deep. These boxes represent money I (or someone else) has spent. They represent 6 boxes worth of stuff I have carried home in my car and up the stairs. They represent 6 boxes worth of stuff I have washed, folded, dusted, sorted, stored, maintained. They represent 6 boxes worth of stuff that I (or someone else) used not enough to use UP, but to leave in good enough condition for donation. They represent 6 boxes worth of things I probably didn't really need in the first place.

That last one is a stunner. It just slapped me as I wrote it. I didn't need that stuff. But instead of putting a bit of thought into the purchase, I bought it. I spent hard earned money, time, effort, and energy to buy this thing that I didn't really need. And now I am spending more time, money, effort, and energy to box it up and take it to the thrift shop.

It sort of makes me sick to think of. I wonder why Americans like me feel like hamsters in a wheel--running, running, running, and not ever getting anywhere. We are spending our money and time and energy buying and caring for things we....don't really care ABOUT.

Although I will eventually drop these boxes off at the thrift shop, I am currently doing a bit of penance by carrying them around in my car and looking at them in the craft room (there are three in each place). A really important point I have to mention is that I CANNOT remember much of what is in those boxes anyway. I do know what's in a couple--either because I just filled them or because I can peek at the contents bursting out of the box top.

But for now, they are Box Filler. I spent money and time and hours of my life energy on Box Filler. Ouch. I hate to think of how many credit card bills I might have dodged, how much more time I would have had to do something else, how much less stuff I would have had to carry up and down the stairs, if I didn't have these 6 boxes of Box Filler.

And then I realized I was a bit *worried* about not having that steady influx of diaper boxes once my daughter is toilet trained. How screwy is that? That I might be *worried* about not spending $60 a month on disposable diapers if only to have the boxes to fill with more Box Filler.

I've got to do something.