Married to the Empire

Friday, April 10, 2009

Letting Go: An Update

I wrote a couple of weeks ago about letting go of things. My personal example was a huge dollhouse that my dad built for me that I just couldn't seem to bring myself to get rid of.

It went away this week.

With my nieces in town for the week and staying at my parents' house, I talked my dad into letting the dollhouse live with them while the girls are here. Ashley loved playing with the dollhouse last year, and this way, she can play with it every day, rather than having to wait until the one day they visit my house.

My parents came to pick it up on Monday:



My dad is planning to fix it up (the glue has gone bad on a lot of things, which means stuff has broken off, the wallpaper looks dreadful now, etc.), then we'll sell it.

I'm actually okay with this. It makes far more sense for this dollhouse to go to some little girl who will play happily with it for years, as opposed to sitting unused in my guest room, gathering dust. It's just that darned emotional attachment that I had to get over first.

Here's part of the reason I had so much trouble getting rid of this before:





I spent most of my allowance money as a child on dollhouse accessories. That sweet little dish set with the handpainted pink flowers was bought at a specialty store that my parents took me to as a treat one Saturday. I remember how excited I was over all the fabulous dollhouse stuff that store had. It was expensive, but it was worth it to me. That dish set was my prized possession in that house.

Additionally, there were so many other little touches, whether they were realistic food items with fabulous detailing, a crocheted rug my mom made back when she crocheted, or wonderful furniture. I was so proud of those brass bunk beds back when I bought them!

It was more than a toy; it was an experience. It was my first taste of the typical home arts of decorating and cleaning. There was pride in the carefully chosen details. And of course, there was the joy of playing with it all.

But now it's time to let go. I have no little girl of my own to give the house to, and I certainly haven't played with it in years. It became clutter. Lovely, affectionately-thought-of clutter, but clutter nonetheless. So, it only makes sense to move on. Allow extra space in my own home, as well as clean up my attitude of selfishness in clinging to it. I took pride in owning this dollhouse, but now I can take pride in passing it on.

I just hope that some other little girl will treasure it as much as I did.

6 comments:

Becky said...

Wow, that looks really well-made. And the accessories are adorable! I can see why you've had a hard time letting go of it :)

It's too bad your nieces live oversees and that you can't give it to them :(

Amy W said...

I'd say you have a definite right to be sentimental about your doll house, but you've made the right choice. And I think you'll really enjoy having the extra space back!

Sue said...

I never had that kind of dollhouse, but my sister did. It was beautiful, as is yours, and I can totally see why it would be so hard to give it up (my sister had a hard time finally getting rid of hers, too).
I bet it will be really freeing to let it go, though. Just take lots of pictures of it...they take up so much less space than the real thing!
Thanks for giving us a glimpse of it!

Thumperdd said...

Sniffle..sniffle..

Had the same issue myself. Mom finally got rid of my dollhouse 3 years ago. I almost cried! I must confess that I did keep the little wedding cake and a Christmas tree that one of her friends made for me.

Sending you lots of hugs XXXXXXXX

Great big, huge step and we're proud of you for letting go!

Danita

Beth said...

My sister and I also had a nice dollhouse as kids. After I had my 3rd son (DSis has no kids) my Mum finally passed it on to a family with girls. It was sad to see it go, I also remember special trips to the dollhouse furniture store. Sigh. My youngest son kept some of the toy food. Legos need food, too you know. ;)

Unknown said...

I know this probably isn't going to be a help and I am not saying to keep everything we ever get. It just sounds like you have a real emotional attachment to this because of your father, which I would too. It looks as if a lot of work has gone into it and I am sure your parents have fond memories of you when they look at it. I haven't read your blog for a long time so I am gonna ask, do you plan on having children down the road?

When we had our son a lovely lady at our church gave us a set of books to use but we both understood that I was to return them once done with them. She knew it would be years but I kept them in the same condition in which I received them then passed them back to her after my children were too big for them. They were in use for years and not just sitting around but now that her children are getting older she has the option to still have the books around for her grandchildren.

It makes the item useful during the time period but still in your family for generations to come. Also you might want to see about putting the item at a family friends house who has children. Then if you have children of your own or when your nieces have children you could get the house back. Just an idea.....