 When is enough, enough? What is the "right amount" to keep? How much is appropriate, and when does it become an "inappropriate" quantity? What do other people have? How many should I have? What's NORMAL??????
Questions like these are always asked at some point during an organizing session. Most commonly after we've gone through the sorting process, put like with like, and then contemplate what we truly want to keep. Clients turn to me because I'm the organizing expert. I hold the mysteriously correct answers to all questions organizing related. And this is where it gets dicey. You see, I don't have all the answers! But I do know how to ask questions that help my clients find THEIR answers - answers that work for them, their systems, and their spaces. Because each of us is an individual, and each of us view, and use, our possessions in different ways. "Normal" is just a setting on the washing machine I tell my clients. "Normal" is what works for you and your space, and it most likely will be very different from any one else's. So, go for it! Grab the Magic Wand of Decision and grant yourself the power to reclaim your space! Need a little help and guidance? Call or email me today and set up an organizing session - the Magic Wand of Decision is included in our fee. :) (This post originally shared in November 2014 - but still holds true today!)  Halloween is over for another year with nothing but leftover treats and memories! Usually by this time all the "good" stuff is gone (that would be anything chocolate in my case), leaving plenty of the less desirable candy (if there is such a thing!). As a parent facing the overabundance of Halloween treats, I've developed some interesting ways to disperse the "unloved" candy.
My go-to method is finding dessert recipes with candy in them. Over the years these ranged from cookies with crushed up candies in them to a Snickers "salad" that was the next best thing, at least for me, to the Snickers themselves. Plus there are apples in it, which served to assuage my guilt just a little over calling it a salad. Snickers never lasted long at our house so the salad was a rare treat. Making trail mix is another easy method, and a hit with the kids. Thanksgiving brought turkeys made from candy corn, Oreos, and malted milk balls; and pilgrim hats with chocolate wafers and miniature peanut butter cups. Christmas is a great time to use up the hard candies - they make perfect decorations for gingerbread houses. Candy also freezes well, and can be used to embellish cookies and treats on Valentine's Day and Easter. Not feeling the need to expose kids, and yourself, to so much sugar? Use the candy for playing counting games, sorting projects (size, color, shape, flavor, etc), and alphabetizing by kind. Did you know if a Skittle is put in water the “S” side will float to the surface? Find more candy experiments like this at CandyExperiments.com. For those feeling altruistic, there are places to donate candy as well. To support our military troops, try Operation Shoebox or Operation Gratitude – just remember the key is to send heat resistant candy, not soft treats that will melt. And of course leaving it in the lunch or commons area of your workplace makes the candy disappear quickly. Regardless of how you deal with the leftover Halloween candy, rest assured that Christmas, with all its sugary treats, isn’t far behind! What is your favorite way to use up Halloween Candy? *I originally shared this post in November of 2014.  “But do you mind if I keep that one? And this one? I know attachment leads to suffering– oh, it does; it really does lead to suffering. I know that. I know it. But I’m not quite ready to let them go just yet.” Every time she smiles, her eyes water and crinkle to the point of almost disappearing, sparkling all the more.
Keep reading more from the blog Filling Your Niche to learn how our attachments can lead to our sufferings, if we let them. |
