A Momentous Occasion!!

This weekend Alan and I (with some help from my cousin, Kimberly) painted Taylor and Ava's room. Yes, it will soon be both of their room although Ava is in denial. When asked if she likes the new pink and blue walls in her room she says "Oh no, mommy, my room is over there. This is Tay-Tay's room." We'll have to work on that. As we were clearing things out to get started, Alan and I faced "THE PILE." Yes, it deserves all caps.

You see, Taylor has a soft spot in her heart for animals. She dearly loves all species, all breeds, all kinds of animals. This has carried over into a love for stuffed animals. For years her collection has grown to the point of nearly overtaking her room (and she has a big room people!) So, we looked at the pile and thought. I am a little more caring at times than Alan and decided she would have to get rid of at least 10 0f them. (You see THE PILE consists of at least 60 stuffed animals). Alan was appalled. He said, no way, we're getting rid of all of them. Keep in mind Taylor was out of town this weekend, so she missed this whole interaction (thank God!) Since we couldn't compromise, we just threw them all into Ava's room and started painting.

Well, last night Alan told Taylor that she could keep 10 stuffed animals and the rest would no longer have residence at our house. She nearly choked on her Frito Pie and then with teary eyes said "Daddy, you can't do this to me." They really are special to Taylor. She can tell you where she got every single one of them, who gave it to her, how old she was when she got it, what she was wearing the day she got it, etc. But she finally admitted that she was outgrowing them a bit and she would do it. Alan gave her a 30 minute deadline to make her 10 choices. After a full 30 minutes of going through THE PILE she came out with 12. She couldn't decide between a few of them. She was completely torn up about it. So, Alan giving into his softy side agreed that 12 would be ok. So, now our mountain of stuffed animals is down to a mere mole hill. And what blessed me the most is that Taylor wants to give all the other stuffed animals away at Adopt-A-Block on Saturday. She said that she needed to find special homes for them and give them to kids who probably didn't have as many toys as she did. Taylor, I am so proud of you!!!