The Container Arrives

It looks like packing will not take me nearly as long as I had expected.  I was told the dimensions of our air shipment container over the phone, but it still came as a bit of a shock to see just how small the container is.  Let me make it clear that we did have the option of packing up and shipping the entire contents of our house to Melbourne, but we chose to go with just one air shipment.  I am excited about learning to live with less stuff, but I foresee some difficult choices to make over the next few days.

The boys are pretty easy.  They don't require many clothes and only one or two pairs of shoes each should get us through in the short term anyway.  Our ten-year-old son Cameron wants to take some of his conveniently small legos, and our youngest, three-year-old James has requested his trains.  One box each should suffice.  The girls are another story.  Katie, our eldest, has agonized over the three boxes I originally allotted her.     They have been packed and repacked several times, and she will have to cut it down to two.  Seven-year-old Sophie would dearly love to bring all of her dolls and doll furniture, and I want to fulfill that desire of her heart. 

If nothing else, I have come to realize and be grateful for just how many resources I have had at the tips of my fingers during the past eleven years of raising and teaching young children.  I am sure there will be many times that I will think longingly of this or that book or other item on my shelves at home, but after nearly four months of separation, I am thinking that the joy and relief of all being together again will more than make up for the stuff we could not bring with us.

Comments

[Shanda]

Hi Christie, Wow that containter is so small!
Your experience in packing light is making me think about all the abundance of stuff I have in my own home. Way too much. Life would be easier if I got rid of the extra.
I can sympathize with you as you help the children make the choices of what to take and what to leave behind.
I really liked your last sentence. So true.