Cleaning Out

Spring has sprung (finally!) and this mama has spring-cleaning-fever like you've never seen. I guess it helps that this is my full-time job AND we can only take one 40' container with us to Shanghai; so we have the choice to either live minimally or re-purchase a lot of our goods overseas. Either way, we can't take it with us. And with a fairly good-sized home stuffed full of toys, clothes, and all the baby items that I've hung onto for the last 8 years... that makes for a lot of {ahem} junk that might be good for someone other than me.

A couple weeks ago, I started pulling it all together for a spring rummage sale, and then decided why not post some on social media and get rid of as much "treasure" as I could before having to haul it outside for what will no-doubt be a rainy day of minimal traffic through the garage. But here's my dilemma....I feel really bad.

I mean, guilt is setting in with every post I make. There are a lot of memories embedded in these boxes of unwanted things. And in many cases, someone, somewhere, some family member put a lot of thought or energy into buying these goods for us at one point or another. It was someone's 1st birthday, or a special baptism, or a house warming, or hell, some of this was even perfectly thoughtful hand-me-downs. And I feel totally unappreciative. 

Maybe you'd say what's the difference between putting all this in a garage sale vs. posting online. But I'm flooding everyone's news feeds whether they like it or not. And with a garage sale, the gift-giver may never have known that the item was parting ways with our family. Plus, I'm making money off these gifts. Now, on the flip-side, I don't want to end up on the show: Hoarders! And, to clarify, I do donate a ton of clothes each year to women's shelters and Goodwill. But the amount of stuff I'm talking about is overwhelming.

So, am I in the wrong? 

I'd love to hear your thoughts.... am I overreacting to the situation, or am I truly an ungrateful, thoughtless mama trying to make a few bucks?