Saturday, February 18, 2017

Books

One place that I constantly feel like we have too much, but at the same time would argue that it is OK, is books. Mostly books for our kids. Because, reading to them is so important. And a new book is always a good thing. But then we have so many books, we often keep many of them away, and only leave a selection out because it gets too overwhelming and then we just have books everywhere.

And I continue to try to spend less. Consume less. Take up less space in this world.

So I was going to buy Max some new books. Then I looked on ebay. Then we went to A to Z books here in North Platte. They have some new books, but it is mostly a store of second hand books. They have a cute little kids corner with a table and chairs. We bought several "new" books. Maybe next time we'll bring some of them that we don't use anymore. Then we went across the street to the library. There is a novel idea, lol. Instead of continually buying new books, why not introduce Max to the library?

To be fair, he was more interested in the computers at the library than the books. They are sort of set up in a way that is difficult for him to see them. But, we got out a book. And we also signed him up for the 1000 B4K program. Basically it encourages you to read 1,000 books to your child before they enter kindergarten. You can count a book more than once, in fact, you can count it as many times as you read it.

I have no doubt in my mind that he has already heard 1,000 books read to him. But this gives us an excuse to go to the library. He gets a sticker for every 100 books. And when we get to 1,000 he gets his picture taken and put up on the wall.

Sometimes it is the smallest things. Common sense. Go to the second hand book store or the library. You don't have to continue to buy new books. Books are good. He needs some at home that we own. He does not need 1,386 books.

On a side note. I read another article that was discussing the authors journey towards consuming less. It was honest and it was real and I really appreciated it. Because sometimes I feel like a hypocrite writing about spending less and consuming less when we get so many packages from Amazon every week. But it is baby steps. It is little things. It is sending back the black tote that I didn't need and getting books at the library and not buying stuff unless it fixes a problem that I have in my life right now. And getting rid of the stuff I don't need or use. Baby steps. There will be set backs. There will be hiccups. And if it is going to be a lifestyle change it is going to take a long time to get there. Baby steps.

3 comments:

Tammie said...

I love reading your posts, they inspire me. I too have started to get used instead of new books, one way to feel better about buying books,-- at least a tree has not been sacrificed--. I just got a couple of new books though, one called the Curated Closet, and the other something about how to dress. I am going to attempt paring down and weeding out my closet. I have a particularly hard time with this emotionally because I grew up with so little and made do with so little for so long. But it is unmanageable the amount of clothing I have and I lose things for whole seasons, or can't find some stuff because I have too much stuff or buy something I already own. The hardest part is getting rid of stuff I haven't hardly worn....

KB said...

I know. I struggle with this too. Or something I spent a lot of money on, or think that I should use or that should be useful to me. But it just isn't. And I don't have the emotional baggage of it like you do either.

I want the Curated Closet! I definitely have that on my list of books to read :) You might also try the Marie Kondo book. She talks a lot about getting through the emotional attachment to things.

Tammie said...

Just ordered it used :) from Amazon!