End of School-year Purge

As the school year draws to a close, it is a good time to reflect on the growth of your child, both physically and academically. With that in mind, I pull out last years pants and outgrown T-shirts and donate them to our school's front office. They are always in need of extra clothing for children who slip in the mud, fall in a puddle or tear their clothing during recess. In the same vein we enjoy looking at our collection of books, then setting aside books our boys have read and outgrown and donating them to their classroom teacher's library.

Their teachers are thrilled to get the books and my boys feel proud to be making a contribution. The front office appreciates the extra clothing, as many items are borrowed but not returned. We start the summer with a "clean slate" so to speak, with drawer space for next year's larger sizes and shelf space for books as yet to be discovered.

Regular and meaningful purges allow you to put items back into your community at a time when there is so much need. The rewards are many as you live a life less cluttered while making a difference in other people's lives.