When we built our house in 2009, I wasn't yet working for the country's largest flooring distributor, and we had a three year old and a baby on the way, not to mention two cats.
So we opted for the builder-grade, standard-issue ivory-colored carpet, figuring we'd upgrade "in a few years" to something better. Once the kids and cats had done their worst.
Well the "doing of the worst" came and went and now, almost 8 years later, we decided it was finally time.
We ordered the flooring, arranged the installer and Dave and I spent last weekend cleaning just about every nook and cranny in our home, whether the room was getting new floors or not.
The result? BAGS of garbage and donations.
The above photo is just a small sample.
And it further reinforced my long-held belief that money is better spent on experiences, not stuff.
The bags of toys (random pieces, long-forgotten "joys" and other treasures) were all put on the curb Sunday night and there hasn't been one cry of "Where's my [insert beloved toy] here?" from either child.
But do they remember our trip to Kalahari, or Cancun? Most definitely.
As the number of candles on the cake grow larger for each kid with each passing year, so do the gifts. For Christmas this past year, it was new tablets (which are well-loved and well-traveled.)
We've also started giving "experiences" as gifts, which is hard for a kid to understand at the start but over time, they get it. The promise of a day at Hersheypark, or a staycation weekend in Baltimore, something exciting to look forward to, gets as much of a reaction as the random Lego set that will soon just be a mix of pieces in the larger pile.
So we will continue on this path. Experiences, not stuff. It's money, and time, better-spent.
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