What are make-up sponges?

We have been struggling with *stuff* for the past few weeks.

Last year, we moved to Spain with 600 pounds of luggage (two 50 lb suitcases each) plus our carry-ons. That might seem like a lot in pounds - but I challenge you to try to pack your life for 2 years into 100 lbs plus a carry-on.

Even so, I felt like we had accumulated so much MORE in just over a year in Spain. More stuff to clean, more stuff to organize, more stuff to wash, more stuff to move around in order to find a place for more stuff. After returning home from the camino for 40 days with under 5 kg (11 lbs), I felt even more burdened by the stuff around me. I tried not to impose this - too heavily - on everyone else when I returned. I thought maybe the feeling would dissipate.

Then, innocently, Yana made a list of things that she wanted for her birthday ... so that we would not inadvertently get her something that she did not need. Needs versus wants ... we are forgetting the difference. I blew my stack. [Is there any way that I can blame it on pre-menopause?]

I let Yana pick out a few outfits and then I took everything else away including her make-up and jewelry. That was pretty radical. I knew it. Maybe it was too radical. I decided to give it a week and then we'd talk.

In the meantime, we ran across this link to a video about "stuff." I'm not pushing the video as 100% true but I am 100% certain that it is not 100% false. (Did you follow that?) We had the kids watch the video and write a summary.

http://storyofstuff.com/


At the end of the week, I gave Yana all her stuff back. She took an inventory and identified everything as either a Need or a Want. I did not necesarily agree with all her classifications. She needs eleven make-up sponges. That's okay. I don't know what make-up sponges are. Some people might argue that I need them too.